This story focuses on the work of students in USC Annenberg's Specialized Journalism master's degree programs. To learn more about the programs, click here.
By Jackson DeMos
Award-winning photographers Nina Berman and Jon Lowenstein joined School of Communication director Larry Gross for a presentation and discussion about their work on Oct. 28 titled The American Political and Social Landscape through Visual Communication.
Berman (pictured above, right) shared work from her books Purple Hearts, an acclaimed series on wounded veterans from the Iraq War, and Homeland, which documents the militarization of American life. Lowenstein (above, left) showed his award-winning work Shadow Lives USA, a 10-year journey documenting the world of undocumented Latino immigrants. Gross (above, middle) then moderated a discussion that included a Q-and-A session with the audience.
Gross said the images the audience saw are not the typical images the average person sees in a day.
"It is important and part of our responsibility as a university to see, think and talk about these images and what they tell us about our society," Gross said. "It is one of the functions of a university to broaden the horizons and widen the scope of what it is that we are told about the world that we all live in."
Many of the pictures and video scenes depicted the subjects in vulnerable positions.
"The people have to feel like they trust you and that you’re there to learn," Berman said. "Everything about you – body language, questions you ask, the way you listen – telegraphs that. If people think you’re there as a taker only, they’ll react in that way."
The embedded video includes the entire event, including the sometimes graphic photos Berman and Lowenstein shared.
"One of the hardest things these days is finding ways to actually impact people and show the work we spend a lot of our time doing," Lowenstein said. "It’s always good to have active minds listening and watching and questioning. That’s what we do it for, to get it out and show what’s going on."
This event was produced as part of Visions and Voices, the USC Arts & Humanities Initiative.
