The titles and roles of activists may differ, but a good activist can be spotted by their passion and dedication to their work. Most of us choose our paths of activism based on the impact we want to have or life sort of decides for us by placing us in social locations where the only path that makes sense is one of resistance. High levels of recognition are typically reserved for men, the wealthy, or those who have been doing this for so long that their fame is an accumulated fame. This blog series is not a remedy to this situation, but rather designed as a way to highlight activists and their justice work through brief interviews.

This installment is an interview with Valérie Berta-Torales, a photojournalist. Responses were provided during a one-on-one phone interview, and this write-up was reviewed and approved by the interviewee prior to publication.

What has most compelled you to prioritize activism in your life?

The 2016 election, and I’m ashamed to say it took me that long. The election and its meaning kicked me in the butt. I was thinking that with Obama we were headed in the right direction, even if it was moving slowly, so I could go on and do what I was doing. I had created this workshop while I was a photojournalist graduate student at the University of Missouri (Mizzou) and going at it slowly, volunteering here and there. But when the election happened – it felt like a crisis – as something really bad that had happened to us, even though we all played a part in it. So I decided to get more active and do a lot more. I’m in a very privileged position as a white woman, but a lot of people are not, so yeah, we need to work.

As a photojournalist who uses photography to capture a range of things, what compelled you to use it to highlight marginalized communities?

Photography is what I do. I’ve always used photography to document things. I’ve also always tried to cover things and issues that I felt were not covered enough in the mainstream media and needed to be highlighted. That’s just the documentary photography tradition. I’m not interested in showing how the gilded live. Our work as photojournalists needs to have an end, which is to bring about change. I’m not a fool. I know I can’t change the world with a photograph, but I can make people think and hopefully through my documentary photography work folks can put themselves in somebody else’s shoes and try to empathize. The hope is that my photography will serve as an avenue for people to start to understand, accept, and empathize.

I began working more directly with marginalized communities when I was on assignment at the park as a graduate student at the University of Missouri in the ’90s and kids started gathering around me, asking questions and wanting to take pictures. I later decided to start a workshop called Voices – based on a photo workshop in D.C. at the time called Shooting Back, which started from a similar premise. The idea was to give cameras to kids and teach them how to use them so that they could show their world their way. I started working and acquired sponsorships from camera and other photo industry companies, recruited other Mizzou photojournalism students, and we ended up doing a workshop the next three semesters. Then I traveled to Hayti, Mo., one summer and held the workshop while staying with a local woman. Keep in mind that Hayti is down in the Bootheel. I went to a local paper there and asked them if we could publish the pictures; a paper that was all white because of the racial divide there. I don’t know if it’s still the same now, but back then white and Black people lived on opposite sides of the railroad tracks in Hayti, so it was a big deal when the white paper agreed to publish these photos taken by Black kids. One of my regrets, and I don’t have many, is that after I graduated I  never went back to see where those kids are now. I was thinking about doing the Voices workshop again after moving back to Columbia in 2013, but this election accelerated everything and gave me a sense of urgency, so I revived Voices much faster than I anticipated with the help of local folks. Voices is not just about teaching kids photojournalism; it’s about them developing a voice and the tools for self-advocacy through photography. It is also about inspiring kids from racially marginalized communities to go into photojournalism as a profession. It’s ridiculous and terrible that photojournalism is so white and male dominated. Imagine all the voices we are not hearing! Hopefully, I’ll be able to take the show on the road and expand it into something that happens more often and also draws in more kids.

Recently, I was asked to volunteer with a similar project called PhotoVoice, a project working nationally and around the world to bring about social change through photography. I participated last year as a mentor photographer, and I’ve been asked to return this year, and I’m thrilled to be doing this in addition to Voices.

On your website, you say that you hope your project will bring ‘diverse communities together in intersectional dialogue.’ Can you explain how you expect your project to do this, and why you think this is an important outcome?

The WE Project came directly out of the election. I started working on it in the spring of 2017. It is a project that aims to put a face on and give a voice to people who belong to marginalized communities in Columbia and mid-Missouri. Part of it is to get people who belong to the dominant white culture to take notice of and ultimately understand, embrace, and accept people belonging to marginalized communities. But as stated in the introduction to the project on the website, the main goal is intersectionality, and uniting in finding ways to fight discrimination. Creating a dialogue with the white supremacists will always come after that. You can’t force people to love each other, but we are all in this world together, and there is enough love in all of us to fully embrace everyone as they are. That’s the contribution I hope to have as a social documentary photographer. None of this takes away from all the other work that needs to be done, like making phone calls to your elected representatives, writing letters, OpEds, marching, protesting, and organizing, especially now with voter registration being such a big issue ahead of the midterm elections; but if you have a talent – a tool you can use to do good – you have to do it, you have to use it, which is why  I am also doing the WE project.

What have been the guiding principles of your work through the years? Have these principles changed? If so, what led to these changes?

I have always wanted to learn and discover different cultures. But when I was younger, I was just this selfish young white woman who was curious about other people, places, and cultures. Being in an interracial relationship and having biracial kids played a big part in my awakening. I realized the ugly realities of white supremacy, and thus the need to fight hate and discrimination in all its forms. When I became a photojournalist, I became more aware of who I was and where I fell on the spectrum of privilege, and I started working for change. Then I started Voices, which resulted in my curiosity expanding even more. Recently, I’ve come to have a lot of gratitude for all I have the privilege to enjoy in this life, and that, to me, is the source from where everything else flows: if you wake up and realize how privileged you are then the only place to go from there is helping to make things better for those who are less privileged. Otherwise, why are you here on this earth? You can’t take anything with you, right? When you go, your worth is in what you’ve done to make this world a better place.

In what ways would you like to see support for you and your work improve?

One obstacle I seem to continuously be facing is getting to the next step where I’m able to exhibit and promote the work so it’s more widely shared and experienced. Right now, I don’t know how far reaching any of my work has been. The WE project has a website and I try to push it on social media by posting regularly, but it’s hard to gauge the actual reach of all that.

I’ve also gone around town and looked for public spaces to exhibit the work. I do not want to do an inside exhibition in some trendy coffee shop. The only people who would see it are people who already agree with the principle, which is fine, but the ultimate goal in exhibiting the work is to have people who don’t necessarily agree with it be faced by these faces, these stories, these voices (the project also has videos of participants). Without this confrontation, if I can call it that, there’s no dialogue or exchange happening and I’m just preaching to the choir; which means the project is not doing its job – weaving marginalized people into the tapestry of humanity within the white imagination. So the project needs to be seen by folks out there who may not want to fully recognize the humanity in those who are different than them. My heart is really set on creating a dialogue with people who think marginalized people don’t face huge social and economic problems; that there is no racism or bigotry.

Often times, people reflect on how much their work has impacted others, but how has your activism affected you?

If nothing else, I’ve met a lot of amazing people, and that in itself is a godsend and such a gift. It’s like when you’re a teacher and you learn from your students as much as you teach them. My activism has had the same effect on me. It has also brought me more insight, and humility. I’ve learned an enormous amount about different people and the issues they face. It’s made me a better person, and for that I’m grateful.

Valérie Berta-Torales was born and raised in France and traveled the world as a photojournalist. She has a Master of Arts degree in American Civilization from the Université Paris VII and another in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She has worked as a photojournalist and photo editor for newspapers and news agencies, a lecturer, and teacher, and more recently as a writer, blogger and independent documentary photographer. Her two sons were born in an American circus, where she worked and traveled for over ten years with her husband. She is now based in Columbia, Mo., where she dedicates herself to giving back with social and racial justice work through photography, direct action, teaching and serving as a language interpreter.

You can get more acquainted with Valérie and her work via her website, Twitter, or Facebook page.