My Voice My Lens: Part 4 - Leadership, Vulnerability, and Self-Portrait Photography
And Being One Traveller, Long I Stood and Looked Down One As Far As I Could, Judith Leitner,
Self-Portrait as Metaphor, 2020, Evergreen Brickworks, Toronto
* from Robert Frost's poem: The Road Not Taken, 2015
“Eventually, of course, our knowledge depends upon the living relationship between what we see going on and ourselves. If exposure is essential, still more so is reflection. Insight doesn’t happen often on the click of the moment, like a lucky snapshot, but comes in its own time and more slowly and from nowhere but within.”
- Eudora Welty - photographer, short story writer, novelist, interpreter of the human heart
Comfort, Ben Rajabi, My Voice My Lens, Cohort 6, 2018, Wave Financial
“It has not just been about exploring ourselves but also about letting our guards down, and showing who we are, regardless of whether we fit the norm, or the expectations those who interact with us have of us. As leaders of the company, we must understand this.
Through this journey, I also learned to see better; to pay attention to details and nuances, to the meanings and the emotions. My Voice My Lens has been an amazing learning experience for me in the art of seeing.”
Ben Rajabi - Culminating Artist’s Statement, 2018
Backstory/1
In my previous photo essay Leadership, Trust, and Self-Portrait Photography, I explored the question: How can we, as leaders in all walks of life, create and foster a foundational culture of trust? and “how can we extend trust as ‘a catalyst that binds people together and shapes the way they relate and communicate with one-another?’. In the photo-essay component, a treasure trove of Lensers’ eloquent pictures and words Illuminate a rich inventory of answers.
Backstory/2
“Vulnerability” is a deep-seated, kaleidoscopic human complexity. At times it presents right there in front of us, shouting out “I’m here, look at me!”; at times as elusive, out of reach, something sensed rather than seen or named.
Living the Question
This naturally leads me to contemplate the ‘trust-vulnerability’ connection, and how each impacts on the other.... I wonder:
Q: How is the art of shaping and sustaining trusting relationships emboldened by a collective mindset that enables sincere expressions of “vulnerability”?
Leadership, Vulnerability, and Self-Portrait Photography
Once again, I turn to a treasure trove of Wave leaders’ ‘vulnerability insights and perspectives’ - courageously expressed in pictures and words – as eloquent sources of answers and enlightenment.
I invite you once again to join me in reading these Wave ‘Lensers’ pictures and words in a leader’s mindset.
Great leaders pay attention to and manifest “vulnerability” when:
wholeheartedly embracing one’s challenges
Patience (Or LackThereof), Adrienne Kwok, My Voice My Lens, Cohort 7, 2019, Wave Financial
What will people think about my photos? What do I want to say about myself? How will people judge me?
Through self-portrait photography, I had no other choice but to challenge all of these anxieties, and along the way, I realized that everyone is plagued by the same insecurities. As a leader... I cannot expect others to be open and vulnerable with me, without first being vulnerable myself. My Voice My Lens has taken me on an unexpected journey of introspection and illuminated new ways of building deeper and more meaningful connections with myself and others.
Adrienne Kwok, Culminating Artist’s Statement, 2019
confronting perfection
Flower Patch, Kat Torangeau, My Voice My Lens, Cohort 9, 2020, Wave Financial
“This idea of “perfection” is the constraint I’ve been working within. It’s taken up my space, and my time, and I’ve allowed it to turn into a narrative. It’s a constraint I had placed upon myself without even realizing it, and My Voice My Lens allowed me to reconsider the constraints I’ve placed, and more importantly - the reasons behind them. I have more to give, and perfection isn’t what’s most important as I grow into the fullest version of myself as a human, and as a Leader."
Kat Torangeau, Culminating Artist’s Statement, 2020
navigating conflict
Artistic Mystery:2, Terry Yanchynskyy, My Voice My Lens, Cohort 4, 2017, Wave Financial
Conflict. It is the cog of progress. There’s no change without a conflict. Ask the questions that no-one else thought of. Or better, ask the questions that no- one else dared to ask. It isn't always easy or comfortable to hear that you’re doing something wrong or to tell someone that they can improve. But it should be welcomed both ways.
Terry Yanchynskyy, Culminating Artist’s Statement, 2017
stepping outside one’s comfort zone
New Day, Bob Hamilton, My Voice My Lens, Cohort 4, 2017, Wave Financial
By turning the lens on myself and taking the time to look at the images produced by the class, my eyes have been opened and I’m now much more attuned to my own emotional reactions in images and elsewhere in life. My Voice My Lens has taught me to fear less: a valuable lesson when it comes to doing something that scares you.
Bob Hamilton, Culminating Artist’s Statement, 2017
opening up to feedback
Purpose, Lalitha Bhaskara, My Voice My Lens, Cohort 5, 2017, Wave Financial
My journey to My Voice My Lens started with hesitation and contemplation. I was not ready to hear others’ perceptions about me. I gained courage and felt the need to be vulnerable and open up to receive any feedback I was offered.
I gave up fear and it was liberating.
Lalitha Bhaskara, Culminating Artist’s Statement, 2018
developing strength from the ground up
Humility, Nima Tayefeh, My Voice My Lens, Cohort 5, 2017, Wave Financial
I’ve come to realize that leadership requires a new way of thinking about vulnerabilities, in that it is crucial to embrace and encourage them as opposed to condemn or deter them. Rather than idealizing strength, we should focus on developing it from the ground up.
Nima Tayefeh, Artist’s Statement, Workshop 5/Self-Portrait as Metaphor, 2017
acting with heroic integrity
Silhouette, Andy Chiang, My Voice My Lens, Cohort 1, 2016, Wave Financial
In 2016, with just over three months of being a Waver under my belt, I received an email from Ashira to participate in a "Leadership Development Opportunity."
What followed was six weeks of learning and sharing, filled with laughter and tears. The most significant outcome for me was to embrace vulnerability and to act with heroic integrity.
Since the conclusion of the first cohort, it's been inspirational to see the waves (of leaders complete My Voice My Lens. There's a sense of comfort knowing a common thread exists among those who have gone through the same journey.
Andy Chiang, Culminating Artist’s Statement, V2/Image and Identity, 2019
looking outward and inward
Untitled, Andrew Hull, My Voice My Lens, Cohort 2, 2017, Wave Financial
“I think that the more you live inside yourself, in the space behind your eyes, the easier it is to live with a defensive mindset, rather than a courageous one. By framing yourself in photographs, you are looking both outward and inward. In this space, it is less easy to default to a defensive stance. You more easily see yourself as a piece of a whole and your voice as just one among many.”
Andrew Hull, Artist’s Statement, Workshop 5/Self-Portrait as Metaphor, 2017
navigating the art of presence
Untitled, Greg Leach, My Voice My Lens, Cohort 10, 2021, Wave Financial
In today's world we are constantly getting distracted by juggling multiple things at once. Being present sounds simple but it can be hard to focus when you have things on your mind and managing the busiest of life... We all strive to be present and tend to do things from meditation to yoga and try anything that can help make us be more present.
The real question is why it is so hard to be present and how can we find it? I hope this photo captures that.
Greg Leach, Artist’s Statement, Workshop 2//Light and Shadow, 2021
staying true to one’s self
Peace, Maryam Babalola, My Voice My Lens, Cohort 7, 2019, Wave Financial
“I’m always impressed by how an image can say a thousand words and being someone that never really knew how to go about expressing myself with my pictures, I decided to join My Voice My Lens.
It turned out to be an irony because I ended up understanding myself and that being vulnerable is okay, that being honest and scared is okay - as long as I stay true to who I am. I ended up discovering a deeper connection with myself, and in turn, forged deeper connections with others.”
Maryam Babalola, Culminating Artist’s Statement, 2019
wholeheartedly embracing steps in one’s evolution
Bestlife, Zuza Tabak, My Voice My Lens, Cohort 5, 2017, Wave Financial
I didn’t think I would learn anything new about myself because I thought I knew everything I needed to know already. I was wrong.
My Voice My Lens didn’t teach me how to be a better leader to others, it instead reminded me to be a better leader to myself and of myself. Once I get that right, I know everything else will follow.
Zuza Tabak, Culminating Artist’s Statement, 2017
wholeheartedly engaging with change
Stop, Go, Alex Lazar, My Voice Through My Lens, Intermediate, 2014 Aphasia Institute
Untitled:2 Alex Lazar, My Voice Through My Lens, Intermediate, 2014 Aphasia Institute
Untitled, Alex Lazar, My Voice Through My Lens, Intermediate, 2014 Aphasia Institute
My camera helps me to:
Express myself
Tell my life story
Share in conversation
How did My Voice My Lens change you?
know myself
discover myself
What are the central themes in your self-portraits?
Light
Time
Change
Looking outwards
Looking inwards
Aphasia Institute
Alex Lazar, Culminating Exhibition Artist’s Statement, 2015
* co-created by Alex and a skilled conversation partner/scribe at The Aphasia Institute,
Conclusion
A: These artists’ portraiture and reflections - in response to an active engagement with “vulnerability” - are rich with wisdom: replete with the kind of self-knowledge and nuance that comes from a meaningful, lived experience. As in the previous blog essay, they bring to light only a fraction of the many, diverse ways we deepen self-awareness; nevertheless, they also artfully remind us to thoughtfully lead with wholehearted attention, empathy, presence, purpose, and wonder.
Inspirational Teachers I Draw On
1. Amber Bracken
freelance documentary photojournalist, based in Edmonton, Alberta
Winner, 2022, World Press Photo of the Year: Kamloops Residential School, 2021
https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo-contest/2022/Amber-Bracken-POY/1
2. Arthur Rubenstein
1887-1982
Polish American virtuoso pianist
regarded by many as the 20th century’s foremost pianist and interpreter of Beethoven, Brahms & Chopin
cf. Rubenstein At 90 Interview, Philarmoniker Fan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFEsLdERZwI
3. Annie Ernaux
author, ethnologist, social activist, « une écriture plate/plain writing »
Winner, 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature
“for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory.”
“making even the reader intensely part of what once happened”
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2022/bio
4. Mark Johnson and Whitney Kroenke
Founders: Playing For Change, 2002
uniting people world-wide through music
breaking down boundaries and overcoming differences through song and stories
Description of Blog 9
In my upcoming Blog 9 – Leadership, Image/Identity, and Self-Portrait Photography, I explore the relationship between “image and identity”. In essence, image and identity are naturally and dynamically linked to trust (Blog 7) and vulnerability (Blog 8).
This essay draws on My Voice My Lens 2.0 intensive workshop: Image & Identity, 2019.
“I tried to think about the exact moment I am in and what I was feeling at that moment. And if that resonated to be a part of who I think I am, I captured it as a frame from a third person's perspective.
I feel like I am an introverted person. I often enjoy living in my own head, cooking up crazy theories and laughing in silence as my own thoughts counter each other. Yet at the same time, I find myself being described as an extroverted person, more often than I would like to admit.
This picture reminds me of this split in perspective between how I view myself and how the rest of the world views me”.
Split-Introvert-Extrovert, Rezaul Hoque, My Voice My Lens, Cohort 9, 2020, Wave Financial
Rezaul Hoque, Artist’s Statement, Workshop 1/Introducing Myself, 2020
