Donna Pinckley

Website:

www.donnapinckley.com 
dp@donnapinckley.com 

Artist Statement:

The Sticks and Stones photography series began seven years ago with an image of one of my frequent subjects and her African-American boyfriend. Her mother and I were catching up when she told me of the cruel taunts hurled at her daughter for dating a boy of another race. As she was speaking, I was reminded of another couple many years ago, who had been the object of similar racial slurs. What struck me with both couples was their refusal to let others define them in the face of this derision. 

Micro-aggression and ignorance continue to play a role in society. As a response to the resurgence in overt bigotry and hate, I began photographing interracial couples of all ages aiming as always to capture how they see themselves in the world of love and trust they have created despite adversities surrounding them. In their own handwriting at the bottom of the images, I added the negative comments they have been subjected to as a reminder of how a segment of society sees them.  

I continue to photograph these couples because this dangerous attitude and belief continues to permeate society and grow stronger in some segments of society and the world. I hope my photographs will resonate with viewers who think the problem has diminished over the years. 

Biography

Donna Pinckley was born in Louisiana and has lived in the South all her life. Her work has dealt with the human condition and the intimate relationship between the subject and her audience and has evolved into her current body of work that deals with racism. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from Louisiana Tech University and a Master of Fine Arts in photography from University of Texas at Austin.  

She has received Visual Artist Fellowships from the Mid-America Arts Alliance/NEA and the Arkansas Arts Council. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally in over 200 solo/juried shows that have included the Griffin Museum of Photography and The Royal Photographic Society International Photography Exhibition160 in Bath, United Kingdom. She is included in the public collections of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, Louisiana and the Photographic Collection at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin.  

In 2018, she was a Finalist for the Arnold Newman Prize in Photographic Portraiture and won First Place for People/Culture at the International Photography Awards that included being in the IPA’s Best of Show Exhibition. In 2017, she was awarded an Honorarium at the Houston Center for Photography’s Members Show and in 2016, she was selected for PhotoLucida’s Critical Mass Top 50 exhibition.  

She has been published in GEO Germany, The Photo Review magazine, Black and White and Black and White (UK), and the online publications, www.slate.com and www.theguardian.com and www.huffingtonpost.com. She is currently Professor of Art at the University of Central Arkansas.