Anyone can take a photo, but how do you take a photo for social change? Please join activist photographers Sharon H. Chang and special guest Michael B. Maine for a discussion on what heart, intention, and artistry look like when you're shooting for equity and justice. The artivists will talk about their journeys to photography; their strengths as PoC photographers; challenges they've faced in a white-dominated photographic industry; and how social justice photography requires developing an entirely non-traditional set of technical, social, and activist skills.

SHARON H. CHANG is an activist photographer who believes visual storytelling has the power to move hearts and minds and change the world. She specializes in grassroots, social justice, and community photography. Her work centers BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) especially womxn and femmes, gender diverse peoples, youth, and family. Sharon's photography has been published in Rethinking Schools, South Seattle Emerald, and the acclaimed book Teaching For Black Lives. She is the winner of the inaugural 2019 Northwest Journalists of Color Visual Storytelling Grant. Her current long-term project is a series portraying Womxn and Nonbinary Farmers of Color in Washington state.

MICHAEL B. MAINE is a Seattle-based, socially engaged artist and creative consultant. Primarily working as a freelance photographer, he focuses on learning about and addressing issues of social inequity through media, concerned with studying the images that already exist and working towards being additive to the field in a way that increases representation both in front of and behind the lens. In addition to his professional photography work, Michael makes a point to always have at least one personal project that explores something that keeps him up at night. Past work has focused on youth experiencing homelessness, stereotypes and the concept of deviance, and the mental landscape.

Current work is focusing on race and class. Michael feels strongly about investing in the community and does so primarily through volunteering—including board service and mentoring. He is former president of the board for both Reel Grrls (a youth media organization) and Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (an organization creating public/private partnerships to help reduce instances of sex trafficking by creating policies, programs, and partnerships designed to reduce demand and access).Additionally, he takes a multidisciplinary approach to mentoring younger people who want to learn more about media literacy and production, seeking out literature representing a range of age, sexuality, gender expression, race and ethnicity, physical and mental ability, and other forms of identity. His ultimate goal is to help create a media landscape that is more fairly produced and representative of humanity and the range of human experiences.