Donna Pinckley: Sticks and Stones
Mixed race couples enduring abuse in the USA
“‘Sticks and Stones’ began with an image of one of my frequent subjects and her African-American boyfriend. Her mother and I were catching up in the kitchen 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 mother in another kitchen many years ago, whose daughter had been the object of similar racial slurs. What struck me was the resilience of both couples in the face of derision, their refusal to let others define them.
I have continued photographing interracial couples of all ages, aiming as always to capture how they see themselves, the world of love and trust they have created despite adversity. I began adding the hateful words they’ve been subjected to at the bottom of the images as a reminder of how the world too often sees them. For me, and I hope for viewers, the juxtaposition is stark and disturbing.” Donna Pinckley
