Not all Muslims are terrorists, not all blacks are gangsters, and not all straight men are gay. Such is the message of Joel Parés, who showed in the Judging America photo series how great the power of stereotypes is and how quickly we judge people based on their appearance. With portraits of the same person in two different jobs, we wonder which photo is the right one.
Joel Pares is a former US Marine who currently lives and works in Dallas as a photographer. Since in his life he constantly witnessed the stereotypes and prejudices that people have about others, he wanted to draw our attention to this problem with a series of photos with a strong message Judging America.
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The photographs show portraits of individuals who are caught in the lens twice: once in their true form (as students, mothers, painters, entrepreneurs) and once in a slightly different occupation: as beggars, street women, terrorists and thugs. Photos ground us for a simple reason: the people on them are the same, only their clothes and facial expressions are different, but they seem completely real to us in both versions. At the same time, let's imagine how little is necessary to have an image of a person created in our head and (consciously or unconsciously) also judge him only by his outward appearance.
Photos that show the power of stereotypes and will make you wonder which one is right - left or right? – see in our gallery!
More information:
www.joelpares.com and www.facebook.com/paresphotography
