By: Jack Stewart
Changing Our Narrative
In the midst of a global pandemic and having to self-quarantine, racial tension, protests and riots, what’s a rising 9th grader to do with his time? I sat down with Chris Slaughter, one half of the father-son duo that are responsible for the just published pictorial, Boarded Up Chicago: Storefront Images Days After The George Floyd Riots.
Jack: What was going on in your mind that made you want to start this project?
Chris: To be honest, I was just looking for something to do with my son (Zachary). The quarantine had him on lock-down for over 2 months. He had just graduated (from Middle School) and everything was closed; no movies, no basketball. He got a camera for graduation and was just taking pictures around the house. This was at the time when the protests started around Chicago. I realized that I had seen some artwork around Chicago on boarded up shops. So, I suggested that we go out and take some pictures. We went out and drove around looking for opportunities to take pictures of something interesting. We weren’t thinking at the time of making a book, we were just looking to spend some time together to talk with no particular destination in mind. We were just rolling.
Jack: Are any of the artists well-known around Chicago or were they people that just saw an opportunity to show their artwork?
Chris: Honestly, I don’t know much about the artists. We were just taking pictures. At the end of having ridden around most of the city, we realized we had some of everyone’s voice; different cultures, subcultures, neighborhood, races and genders and that was unique.
Jack: Are the pictures independent of each other or were you trying to tell a story?
Chris: They are independent of each other, but I ended up trying to tell a story by neighborhood. As we started putting pictures together, we realized that the pictures as a whole were telling a story in addition to their individual story.
Jack: As for as the stories that were spoken to you, what did you get out of it?
Chris: Losses were high, and it was devastating to the business community as well as the individual owners of those businesses. There was a breakdown in society. Protests and riots on a national and even global scale don’t happen every day. In response to that, the message wasn’t how could this happen, or we lost everything. It was we understand the injustice and we are sick of it.
Jack: I saw a lot of beauty, not just because of the artwork, but because I saw threads of unity and people coming together of different races, color and creed in messages of hope and love. What would you say your collective takeaway was with you and your son?
Chris: I feel like it strengthened our bond. We are looking for an organization/cause to donate part of the proceeds of the book. We want to tell everyone that we understand times are rough right now, but throughout time our people have seen rougher. We can’t be paralyzed by fear, and indifference. We still have to keep moving forward and get involved to make things better for future generations.
Jack: What was your favorite part of this project?
Chris: It ended up becoming a family affair. My cousin, mother and daughter got involved with organizing pictures and putting everything together. I enjoyed working with and spending time with the family.
Amazon – Boarded Up Chicago:Storefront Images Days After The George Floyd Riots
