Interview with artist Donna Pinckley
Donna Pinckley moved to Arkansas in 1991 to begin a college teaching career now in its 33rd year. Her photography has been exhibited both nationally and internationally in over 200 solo/juried shows that have included the Griffin Museum of Photography and The Royal Photographic Society International Photography Exhibition 160 in Bath, United Kingdom. In 2022, she was chosen as one of Black and White Magazine's Portfolio Winners and in 2021 was chosen as the Single Image Winner in Portraiture. In 2016, she was the first recipient of the Josephine Herrick Photography Award for combining photography with social justice. She has received Visual Artist Fellowships from the Mid-America Arts Alliance/NEA and the Arkansas Arts Council. More of Donna’s work can be found at her Instagram and website. (Profile photo by Ann George)
AAS: Donna, I know you are originally from Louisiana. Where did you grow up and what brought you to Arkansas?
DP: I grew up in Alexandria, Louisiana and after finishing high school, I studied photography and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from Louisiana Tech University. During that time, I was able to build the start of a strong portfolio. My portraiture photography in college laid the groundwork for me to be hired as a paid intern the summer before the 1984 New Orleans World’s Fair, as well as during the Fair itself. The internship provided diverse opportunities. For example, I photographed the progress of the buildings being constructed and press conferences for renowned singers such as Julio Iglesias and Jimmy Buffett. It gave me the experience of meeting and talking to strangers, while learning about cultures from all over the world.
After undergraduate school, I moved back to New Orleans to work for a commercial photography studio and as a freelance photographer. It was during that time that I applied for and was accepted to graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin. This was in 1988, and I pursued a Master of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in photography. I graduated in December 1990.
This just happened to be perfect timing because in 1991 my former professor, Gary Cawood, now Professor Emeritus at UALR, was going on sabbatical so I moved to Little Rock to replace him. I also got a job working at Pinkey’s Photo where I met my future husband. I taught part time at UALR for a few years. I also had an opportunity to work for architectural photographer Tim Hursley. During that time, I started working on my Soul Objects series and by 1995 I received a Visual Arts Fellowship from the Arkansas Arts Council and the Visual Arts Fellowship from the Mid-America Arts Alliance. These fellowships allowed me to not only continue photographing, but to print my work in my own darkroom. Between 1995 and 1999 I got married and had a baby. These events changed how I saw the world around me, and the way I captured it.
In 2002, I became a faculty member at the University of Central Arkansas. This Fall, I will be starting my 23rd year.
AAS: When did you discover that photography would be your artistic outlet?
DP: One of my fellow classmates in high school had a camera and he was photographing with black and white film. I was immediately intrigued with the photographic process, so much so, that I went to the bank and took out a loan to buy a Fujica ST605: my first camera. Not long after that I learned how to process black and white film and haven’t stopped since. I didn’t really see my camera as an artistic outlet till I started taking art classes in college. I was just photographing my family and friends at this point.
AAS: Tell me about your series Passages and Transitions. I know it represents a very personal journey.
DP: My husband passed away suddenly in 2005. During that time, I had to concentrate on raising my daughter and my work. I’m sure I was on autopilot for many years. Then as I got closer to his age of when he passed in 2018, I started thinking I wanted to do something photographically. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do since I’ve always have been a portrait photographer. It so happened that I was awarded a sabbatical in 2020 and was planning on traveling for my Sticks and Stones Series, but it was still in the early unknown of Covid, and people were still leery about being around anyone. So, I decided to start Passages and Transitions, an ongoing project that is about reflecting and moving on from his death.
AAS: I want to ask you about Notes Left. It is a powerful image even without knowing its title. Did capturing that image somehow help you cope with what must have been unimaginable memories?
Notes Left, Nikon Z7 digital camera
DP: In Notes Left, I was reflecting how my husband would leave me notes and love notes around the house. This was the first note he had written me and was at the beginning of our relationship. Symbolically, a mailbox can mean communication waiting to be retrieved. Having the note at my mailbox, I was showing our communication that I was missing between us. I thought leaving the note at my mailbox with the beautiful light would convey my thoughts.
AAS: Solitary is wonderful photograph on its own, but it is another poignant image. What does your daughter think of those photographs?
Solitary, Linhof IV 4x5 film camera
DP: Solitary was the first photograph of the series and one of my favorites too. In this series, I wanted reductive environments where the viewer can concentrate on what’s important. In this image, the chair symbolizes the loneliness I had been feeling since he passed away. My daughter and I don’t talk about my photographs unless I’m making a photograph of her. I asked her what she thought of Passages and Transitions and she said it made her sad.
AAS: Tell me about your Soul Objects series. I think the photographs are marvelous.
DP: Soul Objects started after I moved to Little Rock in 1991. I had just finished graduate school with a series of photographing Hispanic families for my thesis. I decided now to photograph people within walking distance of my house. Sometimes we as artists miss opportunities that are right in front of us. So, I walked in my neighborhood to see if anybody would want to be photographed. I would see both kids out and parents as well as couples outside of their houses and ask for a photograph. Interestingly enough, the parents didn’t want me to photograph them, but they allowed their kids to be photographed. So, I started to concentrate on the children in my neighborhood. After my daughter started school, I started photographing her friends and classmates for many years.
AAS: Dylan and Evan is one of my favorite images from that series. Who are those boys? They look so innocent, but I have to confess that when I first saw the photograph, I immediately thought of kids in some Stephen King novel.
Dylan and Evan, Mamiya 6 film camera
DP: Dylan and Evan are the twin boys of Tim Hursley who I used to work for. Those boys now are architects working in Los Angeles and doing very well! In Soul Objects, the kids get to choose their favorite object and sometimes a place depending on the light. The boys have a confrontational stance, and they are staring at the viewer holding guns, which convey that haunting and yet beautiful look that is reinforced by being in black and white.
AAS: Your subjects show few facial emotions, and I assume you ask them not to smile. Why is that?
DP: Yes, I always asked them not to smile. I asked them to look in the lens to see a reflection of themselves. It not that I don’t like people smiling but it’s hard in my opinion for the smile not to look fake. So, I asked them to just relax their facial expression and mouth. I also want the subject looking at me. Because to me when I take the photograph, it’s not only how I am looking at my subject but how they are looking at me. It’s that psychological connection I’m trying to catch.
AAS: Stick and Stones is an ongoing series and one that has received high acclaim. Tell me about that series and why did you begin that series?
DP: The Sticks and Stones project 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 a couple, many years ago, who had been the object of similar racial slurs. What struck me was the resilience of both couples in the face of derision and their refusal to let others define them. In her kitchen I remembered a visit with a college friend in Los Angeles in the late 1980’s. He is black and we were riding in his expensive car. We were at a stop light when a white man pulled up beside us and said to my friend “What’s up O.J.?”
From there, I felt like I wanted to do something but wasn’t quite sure yet how I could make a difference. I began photographing interracial couples of all ages, aiming as always, to capture how they see themselves, and the world of love and trust they have created despite adversity. I began adding the negative, hateful, spiteful comments they’ve been subjected to, in their own handwriting, at the bottom of the images as a reminder of how some of society sees them.
This series has been well received and continues to be. I entered a photography competition in 2015 called Critical Mass. A Pre-screening Panel chose two hundred photographer’s work to send to 150 jurors to vote on the Top 50 photographers and I was lucky enough to be selected for the exhibition. One of the jurors was David Rosenburg from Slate.com lensblog (no longer available). He wrote an article about the series and it went viral! I had Huffingingtonpost.com, the Guardian.com, mtv.com and many others contact me to write about and publish my work.
It was an honor to be a finalist for the Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture since I was always an admirer of Newman’s work in school. I have been part of the Best of Show Exhibition from the International Photography Awards. Sticks and Stones have been chosen in many shows that have had notable jurors including Catherine Edleman, Karen Haas, Paula Tognarelli, Karen Irvine.
AAS: What is especially sad is that reactions and ugliness still happens – and often from family members. Tell me about Why couldn’t you just be a Lesbian?. How did you meet that couple?
DP: Unfortunately, yes! When I asked the couples for comments, they responded with things directly said to them, things they overheard, or comments said to someone else about them Quite a few comments were from family members. Some of the comments from families had been put on social media and were appalling. There is no filter. I still get shocked at what I hear and can’t believe that people can be that hateful.
My subjects can be couples or families that I see out in public, friend referrals, or they could have heard about the project after it went viral. I won an award from the Houston Center for Photography and I went down to the opening to give a talk and to network. One of artists and I were talking and she had a friend in California that thought they might be interested in being part of the series. That next summer I was able to contact that couple and also photograph others while visiting. In Why couldn’t you just be a Lesbian?, it was Mary’s father that said that to her. She was originally from Texas and now they are estranged.
AAS: How did you meet the couple in Your kids will be mutts.
DP: When Sticks and Stones went viral I had not only news agencies reach out, but I had many people emailing me. Amanda from Your kids will be mutts was researching interracial relationships hardships/violence against couples for her PhD program and ran across an article that featured Sticks and Stones. She is Mexican American and her husband Minh is Vietnamese American. We kept in touch and she reached out when passing through Little Rock and I was able to photograph them. I didn’t know Amanda was pregnant nor did I ask what the comment was going to be till the end, but having their dog in the photograph along with the statement made that photograph so much stronger.
In the photograph, Are you allowed in the house? I met Rachel who was still in high school and her boyfriend Keshawn who was a year older through one of my photography students. I photographed them at Rachel’s house along with her parents there. This couple was one of the youngest I have photographed so far. I was shocked at the statement but racism is still here, unfortunately.
AAS: Your photographs are always respective, no matter what the story may be surrounding your subjects. Do you consider yourself a storyteller? How do you walk the line of truth and respect versus sensationalism?
DP: Yes, I think so. I try to make it a collaborative effort. The subjects and I have conversations about the environment and where they want to be photographed. They select their clothing and any personal objects they want to be included. My decision in the project was the time of day to ensure the quality of light. By utilizing the environmental context in this way, I was able to reveal an intimate part of each subject and establish a strong personal connection with them. As a result, the portrait was an honest portrayal of the subject at that particular moment in their life. Through this process of photographing, I established a trusting relationship with the subject. This synergy forms a bond that carries over to the viewer.
AAS: Donna, tell me about the work you do at UCA and the students you teach. How do you encourage art students to pursue their dreams?
DP: I’m Professor of Art in Photography at of University of Central Arkansas where I teach both film and digital photography. I teach Foundations classes and some Professional BA/BFA classes.
Thanks to the Wingate Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation, our students have a new building and facilities to pursue their dreams. I try to instill passion in their work and work ethics. I love instructing the beginning black and white film classes, where I teach the students how to use a manual camera, develop the film and print. It’s a joy to watch students printing for the first time, when the thrill of seeing their first image comes up in the chemistry. Today’s students usually have never experienced the traditional darkroom or film, because they were primarily raised on electronics. If I can get them excited about their art, they will hopefully continue to have passion and pursue their art.
