The Debt Project: 99 Portraits Across America

by Brittany M. Powell, Astra Taylor (Foreword by)

Overview

FEATURED IN THE NEW YORKER: The Faces of Americans Living in Debt

Finalist for the Dorothea Lange/Paul Taylor Prize in Documentary.

Featured on Politico, in the Washington Post, the Daily Mail, and the Huffington Post, USA Today, Business Insider, Refinery29, and Fast Company.

Based on the popular online photo series and now published in print for the first time, The Debt Project collects 99 portraits of debt across the United States, featuring people of all different backgrounds and stories, to recontextualize an often stigmatized experience.

In 2013, Brittany Powell made the difficult decision to file for bankruptcy for her photography business. In the years following the 2008 economic collapse, she found herself in a significant amount of debt, a position many Americans across the country still share, a common yet isolating and private experience often steeped in shame.

Her personal experience, bolstered by the We Are the 99% slogan that came out of the Occupy movement, brought her to start The Debt Project, an exploration of the role debt and finance plays in our personal identity and social structure. This book presents an intimate look into 99 different lives: each shares an arrestingly honest portrait in the person’s home, surrounded by all their belongings, accompanied by a handwritten note of the amount of debt that person is in and the story behind the numbers.

The Debt Project, with a foreword by writer and filmmaker Astra Taylor plus resources at the back of the book to support people in debt, examines the social and personal hold financial debt has on us and invites others into a private world, while at the same empowering people to share their stories and overcome the shame they may feel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781513264349
Publisher:	West Margin Press
Publication date:	10/27/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
File size:	151 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

Interviews

"In 2012, after struggling with a significant loss of income from my photography business following the 2008 economic decline, my debt had skyrocketed, and I made the difficult decision to file for bankruptcy. Inspired by this experience, I began the Debt Project as a way to open the conversation about debt, and remove some of the stigma it carries.

Debt is publicly enforced and highly stigmatized, but is almost always privately experienced. It is in many ways an abstract form without material weight or structure, yet with heavy physicality and burden in a person’s everyday life.

My goal was to photograph across the US, in order to bring people together in a common community to re-contextualize an abstract, often shamed experience. It is my hope that by having a platform to discuss this issue, it will encourage the viewer and participants to question and reframe our perception of Debt and how we contribute to its power and role in our social structure."

Editorial Reviews

"A large sum of money owed can seem strangely incorporeal—it may weigh heavily while still feeling somehow abstract, unreal. Since shame accrues to debt as inexorably as interest, many people don't like to talk about the topic, rendering it even less visible. . . A good deal of the power in the new book The Debt Project: 99 Portraits Across America by the photographer Brittany M. Powell, comes from a kind of transgressive mundaneness. Powell set about photographing ninety-nine Americans who owe money (she ended up with a few more, including herself, but started with that figure as a reference to the slogan 'We are the ninety-nine per cent') and asked them to handwrite accompanying text about how much they owe, and to whom."
—New Yorker

"10 Riveting Photo Series That Are Helping to Make the World a Better Place: The inspiration behind these dramatic images will give you chills. Thanks to camera phones and social media, it seems like everyone fancies themselves an amateur photographer these days. Whether it's sharing a new recipe or showing off a new pair of shoes, picture-taking has never been more popular. But these professional photographers are using their talents for something a bit more profound. Well aware of the power of a photo, they're hoping to make the world a better place for veterans, mothers, pets and more—one picture at a time. If there's one thing no one likes, it's debt. After filing for bankruptcy in 2012, photographer Brittany Powell took a deeper look at the role of debt in our society. She created The Debt Project, a photo series that features portraits of debt-laden people in their homes, and the stories behind their hefty dues. Powell wants to open up the conversation of this highly stigmatized issue, and her goal is to photograph 99 people in the U.S. She also plans on publishing a book that details their stories."
—Woman's Day

"Powell allows her photographs to speak for themselves, illustrating the strife faced by many who pursued their dreams only to end up faced with insurmountable financial obligations. As one contributor laments, 'I wake up everyday [sic] and try to be a person. To afford to be a person. Who feels like me. I am trying on empty.' Given the diversity of circumstances as well as levels of debt, this artistic project will resonate with any American who faces debt and any of the other injustices involved with income inequality. A moving, humanitarian exposé on the isolation and despair of financial hardship."
—Kirkus Reviews

"New ways of seeing art with an eye toward diversity and inclusivity are among this season's themes. . . Based on the online photo series that Powell began after she filed for bankruptcy for her photography business, this book brings together portraits taken in each subject's home, surrounded by all their belongings, how much they owe, and the story behind the numbers."
—Publishers Weekly

"The Debt Project reveals the human faces and stories behind the numbers and statistics. What does debt look like? It is not just a number on a past-due notice. Debt looks like a human being. It looks like a mother taking out a title loan on her car, a child denied nourishment because her parents owe the school 'lunch debt,' a senior citizen having their tax returns garnished to settle a judgement, a patient jailed because they can’t pay their hospital bill. . . [Powell] uses her camera to challenge preconceptions. The subjects featured in this book have a grace and dignity. They are in their homes, sometimes looking into the lens but often gazing toward the distance. They do not appear guilty or repentant, but honest, sympathetic, and unashamed. This is vital, because for centuries debtors were regarded as criminals who could be locked away and denied their basic democratic rights. Debtors, it was believed, deserved to be punished, a dehumanizing attitude that lingers on today. . . I hope Powell's powerful and empowering photographs will give more people the courage to do so."
—Astra Taylor (from the foreword)

From the Publisher