2025 SDN Visual Storytelling Festival Speaker Series

Celebrating Black History Month with a panel on
Black Birth

Thursday, February 27, 7:00 pm ET via Zoom

Artist talk with photographers Brian Branch-Price and Benita Mayo 
   Featured in the Fall 2024 issue of ZEKE Magazine
Moderated by Lisa DuBois

Chloe has arrived after four short hours of labor. Michaela is surrounded by her husband Zach Holmes, son, mother, mother-in-law, and sister. Michaela was determined to create the birth experience she wanted which included being surrounded by family and friends. Photo by Benita Mayo..

For Black History Month, we commemorate the accomplishments and successes of African Americans while also recognizing the enduring narrative of struggle and resilience. Visual storytelling has been a cornerstone of Black culture, serving as a means of preserving truth, justice, and protecting the spiritual traditions that define African American history. 

This point in time offers opportunities to photograph and document the subtle and obvious changes that are currently taking place. Social Documentary Network is committed to preserving our collective stories, allowing them to endure and inspire future generations.

This panel will explore the love and respect for Black women during childbirth but also bear witness to the stark racial disparities in maternal health care in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Black women in the United States have the highest maternal mortality rate that is approximately two to three times higher than that of White women. Research confirms that while holding other factors constant– such as income and education–the root of the problem is the racialization of the treatment of Black women during pregnancy and birth. With Black women lacking access, agency, and resources to maternal health care, Benita Mayo and Brian Branch-Price will talk about the Black birth experience – a story that often goes untold.

Brian Branch-Price

Brian Branch-Price is a native of Plainfield, New Jersey and a Howard University graduate with a degree in geology and fine arts photography. Brian is an American photographer and photo editor whose career has ranged from photojournalism to commissioned fine arts projects. Brian's methodology has evolved to employ a traditional documentary/reportage approach that allows for his subjective interpretation of the subject. 

 His career as a photojournalist began at The Hilltop (Howard University) as wells a freelancer for The Washington Post. He has accumulated five photo internships then later staffing for the Trenton Times (Trenton, NJ), The News Journal (Wilmington, DE) , rhe Associated Press, Public Sqaure Amplified and Zuma Press Images. 

Brian was selected as a Department of Defense Embed for the Iraq War for AP.  His work includes reportage on Obataan Mobilization ,an orphanage in Ghana, January 6 riots, Super Bowl, World Series, and world cycling championships. 

His current project, “The Original Cowboy, An American Institution”  takes a deep dive into the Black Cowboy Culture. Other projects include Black maternal and infant mortality rates, vanishing communities, Major Taylor Legacies, BLM, Black Gospel legends, and The Kalmar Nickel (the building of the Pirates of the Caribbean ship). Other accomplishments: Leica stories at BH event space, ASMP member spotlight, Atlanta photojournalism seminar faculty, Photoville, Yunghi Grant, NABJ Salute of Excellence, and a National Headliner awards. 

Benita Mayo
Benita Mayo is a visual artist based in Charlottesville, VA. She is an  active member of the Charlottesville Black Arts Collective and a resident artist at the McGuffey Art Center. Mayo holds a B.A. in Rhetoric & Communications from the University of Virginia (UVA), and she was a fellow-in-residence at the UVA Equity Center creating a photo essay highlighting the pregnancy risks that Black women face in the US and the positive benefits of doula support.  Mayo is drawn to the collective female experience, as seen through the lens of a Black woman living in the intersection of grief, memory, ancestry genealogy, and trauma.

Mayo was the winner in the 23rd Julia Margaret Cameron Award for "Women Seeing Women" category.  Mayo’s work has been featured in publications including ZEKE Magazine, CubaSeen, Virginia Quarterly Review, Canvas Rebel, Portraits The 27 Fine Art Book, A Smith Gallery, SxSE Magazine, Library of Congress, C-Ville Weekly 434 Magazine, and Charlottesville Tomorrow. Her work has been exhibited at various galleries including the Center for Fine Art Photography (Fort Collins CO,) A Smith Gallery, Filter Photo, Social Documentary Network, Welcome Gallery, Second Street Gallery, Studio IX, Academy Center of the Arts, the Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative, Artspace Herndon, MidAtlantic Photo Visions, Washington School of Photography and her work has been recognized internationally and in private collections.

Lisa DuBois
Photo Editor and Diversity Advisory, Social Documentary Network
 

Lisa DuBois is an ethnographic photojournalist and curator. Her photography explores subcultures within mainstream society, expressing the search for meaning through environments, belief systems, and traditions. Sutton Gallery in New Orleans has presented Lisa's series on Black subculture, showcasing her strong respect for history and tradition. Her work has been exhibited both globally and domestically, with exhibitions at the Wallach Art Triennial, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Gordon Parks Museum, and Photoville. She has appeared on interviews with Bronx Net, NOLA TV, The New York Times, and the Guardian magazine. Lisa received a B.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts, as well as a degree in Metaphysical Science from the University of Metaphysics. Her honors include a BRIO grant for photography, the Harlem Arts Fellowship, the En Foco Fellowship, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Community Works N.Y.C. Lisa curated for Save Art Space and Art on the Avenue, both large-scale public art spaces. Her work has appeared in ZEKE magazine, Routes, and Edge of Humanity, including Getty Images and Loupe Art TV. She is a photo editor and diversity advisor for the Social Documentary Network.

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