Source: Lecture 21, Guest Speaker
Tags: Carlos Javier Ortiz, We All We Got, documentary photography, Chicago violence, black on black crime, Great Migration, inner-city communities, racial media framing, South Side Chicago, photography ethics
Photographer Carlos Javier Ortiz discussed his book We All We Got, which documents life in Chicago's inner-city communities through photography and film. His work pushes back against narratives that reduce these neighbourhoods to violence alone, instead capturing family, celebration, resilience, and everyday life alongside the hardship. The lecture touches on media framing of "black on black crime," the Great Migration, and how documentary artists navigate access and trust.
We All We Got
A photography book by Carlos Javier Ortiz. The title comes from graffiti on a wall captured in one of his photographs. It documents life in Chicago and Philadelphia's inner-city communities.
Black on black crime (media framing)
A phrase frequently applied to violence in black communities. Ortiz's point: the same framing ("white on white crime") is rarely used for violence in white communities, revealing a racial double standard in how crime is labelled and reported.
Great Migration
The large-scale movement of Black Americans from the rural South to cities in the North, Midwest, and West, roughly 1910 to 1970. Chicago was a major destination. Ortiz references this through the story of Tina and her family, who moved from Tennessee.
Overexposure (photographic technique)
Deliberately overexposing images so subjects appear as silhouettes, used by Ortiz when he could not show identifiable faces, for example of minors or people in the justice system.
Landscape photography (as emotional documentation)
Ortiz's approach of photographing the physical environment, not just people, to convey how residents feel about where they live.
Violence in Chicago extends well beyond the South Side, though media coverage tends to focus there
When young people are murdered in these communities, media and outside observers often fail to show up to cover, photograph, or discuss it
A common claim is that people in the neighbourhood "don't care" about crime in their own community. Ortiz rejects this as untrue
The phrase "black on black crime" is used readily, while "white on white crime" is not, pointing to a racially selective media vocabulary
Ortiz worked across both photography and film
He began in Philadelphia, comparing those experiences with what he saw in Chicago
Access was a significant obstacle:
He was denied entry to jails and public institutions
Four attorneys shadowed and monitored him consistently during his work
Over time, the communities he filmed became comfortable with the cameras, and trust developed naturally
A painting inside a Chicago high school is referenced as part of the visual landscape of these communities
A mural inside a prison depicts huge mountains between young people on a basketball court and the inner city, even though Chicago is flat. This symbolises isolation and distance felt by incarcerated people
Ortiz used overexposure to turn subjects into silhouettes when he could not reveal faces
Landscape photography was used to capture the feeling of place, not just the people in it
Prom is a major event in these communities, described as a kind of "coming out" celebration, partly because many young people do not go on to college
Chicago has black parties, social gatherings, and joy. The community is not defined entirely by sadness or desperation
Family and love exist within chaos. Ortiz's central observation: the chaos is a small proportion of the overall community experience
Black families escaped the South to move northward; Chicago was one of the key destination cities
Ortiz filmed a video about Tina and her family, who migrated from Tennessee
This historical context is important for understanding why these communities exist in Chicago and what they carry with them
Children as young as 16 are isolated in their own homes as part of the justice system
Probation officers conduct home checks on these young people
⚠️ The racial double standard in crime labelling ("black on black crime" vs. the absence of "white on white crime") is a key example of how media framing shapes public perception of race and violence.
⚠️ Ortiz's work is a counter-narrative: it resists reducing Black communities to violence and instead documents the full range of community life, from celebration to grief.
⚠️ The Great Migration provides essential historical context for understanding the demographics and social conditions of Chicago's Black communities today.
⚠️ Documentary ethics and access are recurring themes: the difficulty of getting into institutions, the use of overexposure to protect identities, and the process of building trust with subjects.
Q: What is the significance of the title We All We Got, and where did it come from?
A: The title comes from graffiti on a wall in one of Ortiz's photographs. It captures the theme of community self-reliance and mutual support in neighbourhoods that are often overlooked by outside institutions and media.
Q: How does Ortiz challenge the narrative that inner-city communities "don't care" about crime?
A: He argues the claim is untrue. His documentary work shows that community members are deeply affected by violence, but that outside media and institutions are the ones who fail to show up, cover, or engage with what happens.
Q: What does the phrase "black on black crime" reveal about racial media framing?
A: It reveals a double standard. Violence within Black communities is racially labelled, while equivalent violence in white communities is not termed "white on white crime." The framing isolates and racialises crime in a way that is not applied evenly.
Q: Why did Ortiz use overexposed photographs in his work?
A: He deliberately overexposed images to make subjects appear as silhouettes, which allowed him to document people whose faces could not be identified, such as minors or those involved in the justice system.
Q: How does the Great Migration connect to the communities Ortiz documents?
A: Chicago was a key destination for Black families leaving the South during the Great Migration (roughly 1910 to 1970). Understanding this migration is necessary context for the demographics, culture, and social conditions of the communities Ortiz photographs.
Q: What point does Ortiz make about the relationship between chaos and community?
A: He argues that the chaos, meaning violence and hardship, is a small proportion of community life. Family, love, celebration, and everyday living make up the larger reality, and his work aims to document that fuller picture.
Carlos Javier Ortiz, We All We Got, documentary photography, photojournalism, Chicago violence, South Side, inner-city communities, black on black crime, media framing of race, racial double standard in crime reporting, Great Migration, Black migration to the North, prison art, youth incarceration, probation, overexposure photography, silhouette photography, landscape as emotional record, community resilience, ES21AC, UC Berkeley, ethnic studies, comparative survey of racial and ethnic groups