Brass Rabbit gives a voice to society’s hidden workers

Beginning a journey into documentary work from a young age, Brass Rabbit combined a love for photography with story telling about the true lives of those who are often overlooked by popular media. Taking an unbiased approach has been an underyling value during this work, resulting photographs and dialogues that have been exhibited in galleries in the US and beyond.

Brass Rabbit’s latest project The Greyscale Economics Project openly shares stories and details about those working in non-traditional economies. The pandemic brought various challenges to not only the artist, but the subjects being interviewed, we find out why here.

Q & A - Brass Rabbit

How did you first get into documentary photography?

I had the privilege of being introduced to photography by my father and sort of fell into the world of documentary work. I essentially started shooting what I had around me when I was a teenager. I then developed an interest in the concept of “work” and what I now call “nontraditional economies.”

I began working with individuals who participated in the drug trade and it slowly took off from there, much of this early work was pretty unrefined but during this time I began to form my belief in and understanding of non-biased reporting and ethical documentation. These ideas have become integral to everything I do now, from my project’s conceptualisation to how they are carried out and described.

Where have your works been exhibited to the public? Did the pandemic affect the way you present your art?

My work has been exhibited in galleries, public installations and museums in the United States and abroad. Although exhibiting hasn’t been a major focus in my career so far, I’m currently working on showing more in the hopes of increasing each project’s reach. The pandemic had a massive effect on how I make my work but it affected the people I work with far more. I had to quickly shift my focus for the Greyscale Economics Project’s data collection to solely digital outreach when things first started shutting down, which had its own set of unique challenges and benefits. More pressing was that many sectors applicable for the project were hit extraordinarily hard, which has had severely damaging effects for many people who already had little protection or safety net.

“The purpose of my work isn’t to have any defined effect or goal, it’s meant to provide hard information for viewers to form their own perspectives.”

The sudden instability and other pressures rightfully resulted in lots of cancelling, rescheduling and much more sparse conversations with participants. I just had someone reach back out to me yesterday who I first started a conversation with in March of 2020.

In what ways do you reveal hard truths about society and if applicable, our environment?

In much of my work, especially my large scale projects, I collect information from and conduct research on first person sources. I facilitate anonymous interviews and create surveys that ask carefully designed questions on work habits, personal finance, social expectation, experienced bias and more.

Although this information might not seem like the most exciting or moving, the responses they receive are exceptionally stirring, and provide a really intimate look into a person’s life and story.

Some of what is revealed is hard to swallow truth, and realities, although each viewer takes away something different. But the purpose of my work isn’t to have any defined effect or goal, it’s meant to provide hard information for viewers to form their own perspectives.

Tell us about why you started the Greyscale Economics Project and how you combine story-telling, visuals and data from members of non-traditional economies.

I started the Greyscale Economics Project about 5 years ago with an interest in sharing the first person perspectives I’d been moved by while working in documentary photography. The project has four phases, each with different components that focus on collecting data, interviewing and photographing members of non-traditional economies. I collect data from participants in two main ways, through anonymous surveying and anonymous interviewing.

I provide digital and hardcopy surveys in English and Spanish that ask questions, like “How many hours do you typically work?”, “Do you have any dependents?” and “How much do you make annually from this work alone?” I conduct interviews using a separate set of questions via private chats, phone or Facetime calls and in person meetings.

I transcribe each question’s response in real time and pull quotes or stories from each conversation to provide a more in-depth and personal perspective.

I use photography to pull the viewer in, each phase of the project features a different photographic focus.

The 1st phase examined objects participants used in their day to day work, the 2nd phase features a combination of new work objects and places of work, the 3rd will feature images of participants in their working environments and the fourth will culminate in book combing all of the pre-existing phases with analyzed data and new photographic pieces.

All collected information will be published in a free online database that will update with new responses live. The surveys and database will not be taken down even after the completion of the project so the information can grow and change with time.

Final thoughts

Brass Rabbit courageously reveals the stories of those working in nontraditional economies through The Greyscale Economics Project, where all information collected is available freely. Like the rest of Brass Rabbit’s work, this does not only involve snapping meaningful photos. Data collection and research are significant parts of the process, while running surveys and doing anonymous interviews with diverse individuals.

Bio and Links

Brass Rabbit is a US based artist and documentary photographer living and working in Trenton, NJ. Brass Rabbit got her start in documentary photography capturing the lives of gang members and other individuals from illicit economies along the east coast.

Her work focuses on societal expectations and economic inequality by combining photography and data collection. She uses a creative pseudonym to safely connect with the populations that drive much of her work and practice. Website: www.brass-rabbit.com

Instagram: @BrassRabbitArt

Greyscale Economics Surveys English Work Data Survey https://forms.gle/gUrWBfD9UMXRVNnN74

Spanish Work Data Survey https://forms.gle/jhKVeCKXmR1ZX2ZW6