Social action art in book form, Perception: A Photo Series encourages readers to look, and then look again.
Description
Tired of reading negative and disparaging remarks directed at Indigenous people of Winnipeg in the press and social media, artist KC Adams created a photo series that presented another perspective. Called “Perception Photo Series,” it confronted common stereotypes of First Nation, Inuit and Métis people to illustrate a more contemporary truthful story. First appearing on billboards, in storefronts, in bus shelters, and projected onto Winnipeg’s downtown buildings, Adams’s stunning photographs now appear in the book, Perception: A Photo Series. Meant to challenge the culture of apathy and willful ignorance about Indigenous issues, Adams hopes to unite readers in the fight against prejudice of all kinds.
Perception is one title in The Debwe Series.
Awards
- Short-listed, Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award / Prix Littéraire Carol-Shields De La Ville De Winnipeg 2020
- Short-listed, McNally Robinson Book of the Year 2020
- Short-listed, Eileen Mctavish Sykes Award for First Book 2020
- Nominated, SOLS First Nations Communities READ 2021
Reviews
Selected for the Outstanding 2020 International Books List
The United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY)
KC Adams's Perception series absolutely captured the most devastating perceptions from the colonial mind, and the accompanying lack of knowledge about the truth of Canada's historical relationship to Indigenous Peoples. Succinctly and beautifully, KC transformed that narrative in this series. It is a prolific piece which will always be a source of inspiration for truth and reconciliation. It is unforgettable. Kichi miigwetch KC Adams!
Tina Keeper, award-winning actor/producer
Indeed, the potential lasting impact of this collection can’t be underestimated; this is socially engaged art at its best.
Kirkus Reviews
KC Adams' Perception series challenges us to bridge thought and reality; emerging on the other side better having challenged ourselves to see Indigenous peoples for what they really are. We are grandparents, parents, children - and everything in between. As Adams shows through this incredible exhibition of faces and feelings, we are beautiful, whole, and complex peoples irreducible to stereotypes and slander.
Romeo Saganash, MP for Quebec (2011-2019), lawyer
Perception is an impressive collection. ..an inside look into a living legend’s photography practice (I say this in no uncertain terms) and, more importantly, as Adams intended, a reminder to look past the hurt in search of a love that can bring us all home.
Lindsay Nixon, editor-at-large for Canadian Art, award-winning author of nîtisânak