Kevin N GarrettAs a commercial lifestyle photographer most of my days are spent making images of happy people in lovely settings, living their best life. Once in a great while as an artist, you get an opportunity to make a big difference in a human rights issue, anopportunity to change the way people think about a topic through images. That's what the "Skin in the Game: Circumcision Cuts Through Us All" campaign to raise awareness of and end medically unnecessary circumcision of babies and children is for me. Even though nothing in my portfolio showed the kind of iconic images that could make people change their minds about subjecting babies to circumcision, I shared my vision of activism through storytelling and images with Georganne Chapin, founding executive director of Intact America, a nonprofit, is dedicated to ending the routine practice of removing the foreskins of baby boys in the United States and supporting the boys and men, who have been traumatized and harmed by an unnecessary surgery that has become the cultural norm. We brainstormed and came up with the "Skin in The Game: Circumcision Cuts Through Us All" campaign. In April and June of 2023, I photographed more than 80 participants during two photo shoots in Atlanta, Georgia, and one in Dallas, Texas. Our team made black and white images that connect the viewer to the subjects in an emotional way that draws the viewer into the pain, anger, regret, and sorrow caused by male infant circumcision. Men and women of all races, ethnicities, and all ages are affected, and they each have a powerful story to share. The images are striking in their reduction of visual elements around the subjects. We made the choice to have everyone in denim jeans and simple black tee shirts, to photograph on a stark white background, under classic lighting schemes. This structure highlights the humanity and unifies us as all similar. My goal was to have the viewer's focus solely on the individual featured in the shot, to his or her face, to their emotion. Storytelling with images makes it impossible for us to walk away from injustice. Read More Read Less