ABOUT THE SPEAKER
LaToya Ruby Frazier - Photographer
LaToya Ruby Frazier focuses her camera lens on her family and her hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania, to explore themes of family, inequality, health care and environmental racism.

Why you should listen

TED Fellow LaToya Ruby Frazier uses photography, video and performance to address issues of industrialism, rustbelt revitalization, environmental justice, healthcare inequality, family and communal history. Some of her work, which features images of her mother and grandmother (Grandma Ruby) was published in her first book, The Notion of Family, which received the International Center for Photography Infinity Award.

She has exhibited her work widely in the United States and elsewhere, with solo exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, Seattle Art Museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. She is an assistant professor of photography at the School of Art Institute of Chicago, having previously taught at Yale, Rutgers and Syracuse University.

LaToya received her BFA in applied media arts from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and her MFA in art photography from Syracuse University. She was the Guna S. Mundheim Fellow for visual arts at the American Academy in Berlin in 2013 and won a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 2014. She is also a 2015 MacArthur Fellow.

More profile about the speaker
LaToya Ruby Frazier | Speaker | TED.com
TED2015

LaToya Ruby Frazier: A visual history of inequality in industrial America

LaToya Ruby Frazier: A história visual da desigualdade na América industrial

Filmed:
1,300,437 views

Nos últimos 12 anos, LaToya Rubi Frazier fotografou amigos, vizinhos e familiares em Braddock, na Pensilvânia. Embora a cidade do aço ultimamente tenha sido aclamada como um exemplo da "revitalização do Cinturão da Manufatura," as imagens de Frazier contam uma história diferente, do impacto real da desigualdade e da toxicidade ambiental. Nesta poderosa palestra curta, a TED membro compartilha um olhar profundamente pessoal de um mundo muitas vezes invisível.
- Photographer
LaToya Ruby Frazier focuses her camera lens on her family and her hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania, to explore themes of family, inequality, health care and environmental racism. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
Along the ancient path
of the Monongahela River,
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Ao longo do antigo caminho
do rio Monongahela,
00:17
Braddock, Pennsylvania sits
in the eastern region of Allegheny County,
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Braddock, na Pensilvânia, encontra-se
na região leste do condado de Allegheny,
00:22
approximately nine miles
outside of Pittsburgh.
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aproximadamente
15 km de distância de Pittsburgh.
00:28
An industrial suburb,
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Um subúrbio industrial,
00:30
Braddock is home
to Andrew Carnegie's first steel mill,
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Braddock é o lar da primeira
siderúrgica de Andrew Carnegie,
a Edgar Thomson Works.
00:34
the Edgar Thomson Works.
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00:37
Operating since 1875,
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Em operação desde 1875,
00:39
it is the last functioning
steel mill in the region.
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é a última usina siderúrgica
em funcionamento na região.
Durante 12 anos,
produzi retratos colaborativos,
00:45
For 12 years, I have produced
collaborative portraits,
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00:50
still lifes, landscapes and aerial views
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naturezas-mortas, paisagens
e vistas aéreas
00:54
in order to build a visual archive
to address the intersection
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com o objetivo de construir um arquivo
visual para endereçar a intersecção
00:59
of the steel industry,
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da indústria siderúrgica,
01:01
the environment,
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do meio ambiente,
01:03
and the health care system's impact
on the bodies of my family and community.
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e o impacto do sistema de saúde
sobre os corpos da minha família
e da comunidade.
01:11
The tradition and grand
narrative of Braddock
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A tradição e principal
narrativa de Braddock
01:14
is mostly comprised of stories
of industrialists and trade unions.
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é majoritariamente composta
por histórias de industriais e sindicatos.
Atualmente, a nova narrativa
sobre Braddock,
01:20
Currently, the new narrative
about Braddock,
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01:25
a poster child for Rust Belt
revitalization,
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um exemplo para a revitalização
do "Cinturão da Manufatura"
01:28
is a story of urban pioneers
discovering a new frontier.
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é uma história de pioneiros urbanos
descobrindo uma nova fronteira.
01:34
Mass media has omitted the fact
that Braddock is predominantly black.
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A mídia de massa tem omitido o fato
de que Braddock é
predominantemente negra.
01:41
Our existence has been co-opted,
silenced and erased.
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A nossa existência tem sido cooptada,
silenciada e apagada.
01:47
Fourth generation in a lineage of women,
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Quarta geração
de uma linhagem de mulheres,
01:51
I was raised under the protection
and care of Grandma Ruby,
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eu fui criada sob a proteção
e cuidados da vovó Ruby,
01:56
off 8th Street
at 805 Washington Avenue.
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distante da Rua Oito
na Avenida Washington, 805.
02:01
She worked as a manager for Goodwill.
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Ela trabalhou como gerente
para a Goodwill.
Mamãe era uma auxiliar de enfermagem.
02:07
Mom was a nurse's aid.
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02:08
She watched the steel mills close
and white flight to suburban developments.
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Ela viu as siderúrgicas fecharem
e a fuga dos brancos
para subúrbios em desenvolvimento.
Na época que a minha geração
andava pelas ruas,
02:16
By the time my generation
walked the streets,
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02:19
disinvestment at the local,
state and federal level,
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a falta de investimento em nível local,
estadual e federal,
02:24
eroded infrastructure,
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infra-estrutura corroídas,
02:26
and the War on Drugs
dismantled my family and community.
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e a guerra contra as drogas
desmontou minha família e comunidade.
02:33
Grandma Ruby's stepfather Gramps
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Gramps, o padastro da avó Ruby,
foi um dos poucos homens negros
02:36
was one of few black men to retire
from Carnegie's mill with his pension.
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a se aposentar da fábrica Carnegie
com sua pensão.
02:40
He worked in high temperatures,
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Ele trabalhou sob altas temperaturas,
02:43
tearing down and rebuilding furnaces,
cleaning up spilt metal and slag.
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demolindo e reconstruindo fornos,
limpando metal derramado e clínquer.
02:49
The history of a place is written
on the body and the landscape.
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A história de um lugar está escrita
no corpo e na paisagem.
02:57
Areas of heavy truck traffic,
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Áreas de trânsito de caminhões pesados,
03:00
exposure to benzene and atomized metals,
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expostos ao benzeno
metais atomizados,
03:04
risk cancer and lupus.
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com risco de câncer e lúpus.
03:10
One hundred twenty-three licensed beds,
652 employees,
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Cento e vinte e três camas licenciadas,
652 funcionários,
03:15
rehabilitation programs decimated.
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programas de reabilitação dizimados.
03:23
A housing discrimination lawsuit
against Allegheny County
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Um processo de discriminação
habitacional contra o condado de Allegheny
03:27
removed where the projects
Talbot Towers once stood.
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removeu o que uma vez foi
o conjunto residencial Talbot Towers.
03:33
Recent rezoning for more light industry
has since appeared.
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Um novo rezoneamento em prol de
indústrias mais leves tem então aparecido.
03:39
Google Maps and Google Earth pixelations
conceal the flammable waste
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As imagens do Google Maps e Google Earth
ocultam o desperdício inflamável
03:45
being used to squeeze the Bunn family
off their home and land.
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sendo usado para enxotar
a família Bunn de sua casa e sua terra.
03:53
In 2013, I chartered a helicopter
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Em 2013, eu fretei um helicóptero
03:57
with my cameras to document
this aggressive dispossession.
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com minhas câmeras para documentar
esta expropriação agressiva.
04:05
In flight, my observation reveals
thousands of plastic white bundles
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No voo, minha observação revelou
milhares de pacotes de plástico branco,
04:10
owned by a conservation industry
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propriedade de uma
indústria de conservação
04:13
that claims it's eco-friendly
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que afirma ser ecologicamente correta
04:15
and recycles millions of tires
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e recicla milhões de pneus
04:18
to preserve people's lives
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para preservar a vida das pessoas
04:21
and to improve people's lives.
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e para melhorar suas vidas.
04:25
My work spirals from the micro
to the macro level,
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Meu trabalho faz uma espiral
do nível micro ao macro,
04:30
excavating hidden histories.
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escavando histórias escondidas.
04:33
Recently, at the Seattle Art Museum,
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Recentemente no Museu de Arte de Seattle,
04:36
Isaac Bunn and I mounted this exhibition,
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Isaac Bunn e eu montamos esta exposição,
04:40
and the exhibition was used
as a platform to launch his voice.
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e ela foi utilizada como uma plataforma
para lançar a voz dele.
04:46
Through reclamation of our narrative,
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Com a reivindicação da nossa narrativa,
continuaremos a lutar
04:49
we will continue to fight historic erasure
and socioeconomic inequality.
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contra a destruição da história
e a desigualdade socioeconômica.
04:56
Thank you.
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Obrigada.
04:58
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Evelise Venceslau Müller
Reviewed by Maricene Crus

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
LaToya Ruby Frazier - Photographer
LaToya Ruby Frazier focuses her camera lens on her family and her hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania, to explore themes of family, inequality, health care and environmental racism.

Why you should listen

TED Fellow LaToya Ruby Frazier uses photography, video and performance to address issues of industrialism, rustbelt revitalization, environmental justice, healthcare inequality, family and communal history. Some of her work, which features images of her mother and grandmother (Grandma Ruby) was published in her first book, The Notion of Family, which received the International Center for Photography Infinity Award.

She has exhibited her work widely in the United States and elsewhere, with solo exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, Seattle Art Museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. She is an assistant professor of photography at the School of Art Institute of Chicago, having previously taught at Yale, Rutgers and Syracuse University.

LaToya received her BFA in applied media arts from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and her MFA in art photography from Syracuse University. She was the Guna S. Mundheim Fellow for visual arts at the American Academy in Berlin in 2013 and won a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 2014. She is also a 2015 MacArthur Fellow.

More profile about the speaker
LaToya Ruby Frazier | Speaker | TED.com