Sheila Pree Bright
Sheila Pree Bright uses photography to change the way we see the world.
We identify people as “other” – minorities, poor, immigrants – and then the media turns them into cultural stereotypes. Using headlines, stories, and images, the “other” become the angry, the dangerous, the criminal.
Sheila goes to the protests, gatherings, and neighborhoods of the “other” and takes pictures. Pictures that show them as bigger than the story, the biases, and the stereotypes. Pictures that show them as people.
People in pain. People who are scared. People who are suffering and strong, hurt and brave. She shows them as humans.
Sheila knows what it’s like to be on the outside. She was born into a military family and grew up in Germany, Colorado Springs, and Fort Riley, Kansas.
As a photographer, she spends her adult life cultivating belonging. Sheila’s photography is more than art, it’s activism, change, and love.
“You can’t see what’s invisible. What I’m doing is showing you through art what I have seen through my eyes.”
Sheila’s work has received numerous awards, she was a runner-up for the million dollar Ted prize, her photographs have appeared in galleries and museums around the world, and she lectures all over the country.
Her images break down old beliefs, shake up stereotypes, and help us all see the “other” for what they truly are: people.
Some things we talk about…
- how to use art as activism
- the power of the lens to change what we see
- what it means to be black in a racist America
- how to build your own art business
- using social media to launch your career
“I’m extremely shy but the camera allowed for me to share how I see the world or how I think the world should be.”
“I want to have brave spaces. Let’s sit down, cook some food, and let’s start talking. Because we need to find out what unites us instead of what divides us.”
let’s connect.
letters from my heart about what’s on my mind. the business and the personal.