PEMBROKE PINES – As a celebration of Caribbean Heritage Month, Jamaican-based photographer Peter Ferguson will introduce ChangeMakers: 101 Portraits of Men in Jamaica to South Florida at 2:00 PM on June 27 at the South Regional-BC Library in Pembroke Pines (7300 Pines Blvd, Pembroke Pines). The book signing will also give the photographer a chance to meet Florida-based Jamaicans who are themselves making important contributions in their adopted communities.
With photographic portraits of stalwarts such as Rex Nettleford, Sir Howard Cooke, Kingsley Cooper, Ray Chen, Cliff Hughes, and 96 others who helped shape the Jamaican psyche, ChangeMakers is more than just a coffee table book. It is history, drama, biography.
From Prime Minister to educator to fine artist, photographer Peter Ferguson captures the true character of his sitters in pictures that are not always pretty, but always honest. And, with short, punchy bios from writer Michael A. Grant, the portraits come alive. A few have left us–Byron Lee, Herb McKenley, Philip Sherlock for example, but their legacy live on in the halls of music, sport, literature, and certainly in these pages.
Indeed a labour or love, the book of photographs took ten years to complete.
“At times it was extremely frustrating, especially when as months passed, no one made themselves available to be photographed. I literally had to will myself to keep the project alive and on several occasions use the printed images already done of some individuals to re-stimulate myself, to pull myself up, dust off and charge again”, Ferguson explains.
Peter Feguson
Ferguson is a noted commercial photographer on the island and has photographed hundreds of men and women in his more than 25 years in the industry. So, the question begs to be asked, why the focus on men in this major book project?
“Young men have been on the decline for the last three decades or more as seen in the universities’ graduates and the general workplace. Young men are lost and seemingly developing predatory instincts and tendencies due to lack of purpose, will and guidance, and this is reflective in the recklessness among certain demographics who now see the successful woman as the oppressor. My gift to young Jamaicans is 101 examples of possible directions that their lives could take”.
The intimate portraits in ChangeMakers are indeed snapshots of possibilities. Not only are the images strong artistically, the black and white photographs showcase Ferguson’s skillful use of light and shadow. The figures pop with contrast, some with distinct sharpness, others softened depending on the context. And, although the text provides some details into their lives, it is the photographer’s searching yet respectful lens that reveals even stronger clues into the sitters’ personalities and history.
“If the book stimulates dialogue, then an important objective would have been met. Now that it is out, its purpose keeps evolving”.
Come, meet the artist and find out why he too is considered a ChangeMaker.
