PPP Journal · Editorial

What a portrait sees beyond a title

A person is more than the role we notice first.

A title is useful. It tells us who is speaking, who is leading a meeting and who might answer a particular question. It rarely tells us what took courage, what was given up, or who made a difference when continuing was difficult.

A portrait can give us time to look again. A photograph cannot reveal the whole truth about a person, but it can interrupt a quick judgement. A personal story beside it gives the person portrayed room to speak in their own words.

This is one of PPP's starting points. Photography and storytelling meet so that a face becomes more than an illustration of a position. It becomes an invitation to listen. The same person can be determined and uncertain, privileged and vulnerable, visible in one setting and overlooked in another.

We do not have to agree to see one another more clearly. A more open community may begin with that small difference: staying with a person a little longer than our first impression asks us to.