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New York Times photographer Chester Higgins shares how pictures can capture the soul on Alabama tour

Author, longtime New York Times photographer and Alabama Distinguished Artist Chester Higgins toured Alabama in March, sharing with students and residents how to connect people through the power of photography.

Higgins' portrait work appears in collections in museums from New York to San Francisco. He has received international acclaim for the humanity he captures in each picture.

"Taking a photograph is accidental. Making a photograph is intentional," Higgins said. "What I produce is a sympathetic image of the person. When you look at the image, you have to ask yourself if that image makes you feel sympathetic for that person or that situation. If it does, then I succeeded."

While Higgins was a student at Tuskegee University, his photography journey began with his great aunts and uncles. Higgins was extremely close to his relatives, and said the life experiences they shared with him shaped his own success.

His great aunts and uncles only had two pictures on their walls. Higgins began learning photography from a colleague at the student newspaper so that he could make pictures of his family that would capture their dignity and grace and show them they were "worthy to be on their walls."

Later in his college career, he attended a protest with several other students and saw how the media portrayed the event through photographs. Whereas Higgins saw the group as American citizens petitioning the government, the media images depicted them as violent criminals.

Higgins said this would inform his mission as a photographer.

"It taught me that a photograph never lies about the photographer," Higgins said. "My choice was either to go and protest the newspaper or learn how to become such a compelling photographer that my pictures become part of the national diet of visuals that's telling you about a particular group. I can't change the other stuff, but I could add something meaningful that challenges it."

Before graduation, Higgins was mentored by Arthur Rothstein at LOOK Magazine in New York. When he earned his degree, Higgins moved to New York and began freelancing for major publications.

In 1975, The New York Times offered him a full-time position as a staff photographer. He would stay with the Times until his retirement in 2014, covering everyone from the governor, people who were incarcerated, fashionistas, academics and corporate giants.

For the entirety of his career, he remained true to creating sympathetic images, especially for groups who were regularly portrayed negatively in the media.

"Since I said I wanted to change this view of my people, I came up always looking for ideas of trying to show the cultural aspects of Black Americans," Higgins said. "Because the Times is mostly a paper for decision makers, I figured that, well, I could add to this is stuff that they've never seen before when they look at a Black person. My whole thing was just trying to make sure that whatever else was going on, I fully packed the picture with humanity."

Higgins traveled to Auburn, Selma, Tuskegee and his hometown of New Brockton to deliver public addresses on what he’s learned as a photographer throughout his career. In Auburn, he spoke to Director of Strategic Initiatives and Programs Joan Harrell’s journalism students.

He hoped to benefit students with lessons from his life, just as his great uncles and aunts did for him when he was a young photographer.

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"I enjoy trying to share with them that essentially, tomorrow's waiting for you and have faith in the things that resonate with you," Higgins said. "Believe in yourself, because confidence is really 90% of getting through life. You need confidence to reinforce the clarity of your vision, but you also need confidence to buttress you against the pitfalls and the disappointments which will come. But when you fail and you try again, you have an advantage called 'experience.'"

Students were taken with Higgins' discussion of sympathetic photography. As future journalists, his mission to capture the authentic moments of human experience also strongly resonated with their own goals.

Harrell said Higgins' engagement with the students will prepare them to approach professional photography and photojournalism with deliberation and care.

"Students had the meaningful opportunity to examine the ingenious photographic eye of Chester Higgins' powerful visual form of storytelling," Harrell said. "Photojournalism should capture the deeper understanding of life events and interactions with people and community. Higgins shared why he intentionally interweaves personal narratives of his New Brockton, Alabama, family with the global human experiences of faith, injustices, culture, beauty and love."

Higgins' visit was sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts Strategic Initiatives and Programs, the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities (CMDCAH) and Enterprise State Community College. His outreach travels to New Brockton, Enterprise and Tuskegee were organized by Director of Strategic Initiatives and Programs Joan Harrell and CMDCAH Director Mark Wilson.

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Tags: Communication and Journalism Center for the Arts and Humanities Community, Outreach and Engagement