• Find
    • Photographers
    • Directors
    • Crew
    • Stock
  • Produce
  • Read
    • Published
    • Unpublished
    • Intel
  • Consult
    • Design
    • Marketing
    • Photo Editing
    • Pricing & Negotiating
    • Publicity
    • Shoot Production
  • About
    • Mission
    • Team
    • Successes
    • Press
    • Specialties
    • Membership
    • Terms
    • Privacy
    • Contact
  • Account
    • Sign In
Wonderful Machine
  • Sign In
  • Consult
    • Design
    • Marketing
    • Photo Editing
    • Pricing & Negotiating
    • Publicity
    • Shoot Production
  • About
    • Mission
    • Team
    • Successes
    • Press
    • Specialties
    • Membership
    • Terms
    • Privacy
    • Contact
  • Account
    • Sign In
Recover Password Learn More

Please enter your email and website or LinkedIn to receive more information about our free and paid accounts.

Wonderful Machine

Thanks!
We'll reply to you shortly.

Please enter your email address below and we’ll send you instructions on how to change your password.

Enter your new password below or generate one. The password should be at least ten characters long. To make it stronger, use upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols.

Generate Password

Sara Stathas Seeks Answers To Milwaukee’s Homicides for the LA Times

BY Liz Wolf 15 December 2021
Published, Photographer Spotlight

While many around the globe were losing loved ones as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the people of Milwaukee were burying young men due to a rise in gun violence. Residents of the city’s north side have seen a 93% increase in the rate of violent crimes over the last year. Milwaukee-based photographer Sara Stathas joined Los Angeles Times reporter Kurtis Lee for a recent assignment that took them to the city’s predominantly Black neighborhoods to interview individuals who have witnessed and been affected by this epidemic of gun violence.  

Screenshot of LA Times article featuring image shot by Sara Stathas

Sara was contacted by the LA Times’ director of photography Mary Cooney to collaborate with writer Kurtis Lee, who was researching the changing rate of homicides since the Coronavirus outbreak. Kurtis traveled to Milwaukee several times over the summer to meet with Sara, though he had already researched, sourced, and interviewed many of the subjects prior to their collaboration. Only a few individuals were unable to connect with Kurtis beforehand and together he and Sara ventured to several areas in the community to speak with residents and business owners.

Community church group shot by Sara Stathas for the LA Times

When a photographer and reporter share the same time slot with a subject it can be challenging to ensure both parties have enough to go off of. This assignment was a welcome change for Sara, who felt that Kurtis valued her perspective and ensured she had time to photograph and connect with the subjects. The two approached the assignment with compassion and professionalism, enabling them to work together to convey people’s stories authentically and respectfully.

I loved working alongside Kurtis because he respected my position as a photographer on location and gave me ample time and space to do what I needed. 

Barbershop owner Gaulien "Gee" Smith shot by Sara Stathas for the LA Times

Sara’s connections as a photographer in her community helped subjects like Gee — Gaulien “Gee” Smith, who owns the barbershop Gee’s Clippers — open up about the violence that occurred outside another shop earlier this year. One of Gee’s friends and former employees, Yosef Timms, was brutally murdered while leaving his own barbershop after a long day of work. The community has maintained a memorial outside the barbershop, which Sara took care to photograph from a distance, leaving space for two residents to walk by and pay their respects.

Screenshot of LA Times article featuring image shot by Sara Stathas

I had photographed Gee before and he’s got one of the brightest personalities and biggest grins of anyone I’ve ever met. Timms’ murder was the purpose of my visit, so this time around the mood was somber at a typically upbeat establishment.

Milwaukee Police Captain Tom Casper at his desk shot by Sara Stathas for the LA Times

One unique aspect of the project was when Kurtis and Sara were invited on a tour of the Milwaukee Police Department’s homicide offices, for interviews with both the homicide detective and police captain. With an inside look at their everyday world, Sara was fascinated by aspects of police work that are not depicted in modern television, like a rack of available neckties for detectives to use when making a quick court appearance. 

We got to see their world, down to the old-fashioned candy machine in their “war room”. I was able to set up a light and create portraits of both the captain in his personal office and the detective in the main office space. 

The offices of the Milwaukee police homicide department shot by Sara Stathas for the LA Times

I found it fascinating to have access to the Milwaukee Police Department’s homicide detective office. As a photographer that experience felt once in a lifetime.

Homicide Detective Mike Washington in homicide department shot by Sara Stathas for the LA Times

Yet with the heavy emotion that exists at the heart of this issue, Sara’s most meaningful sessions were with the victims’ families. She met with Jalisa Martin at the park where her brother’s body was found in March of 2020. Photographing Jalisa at this incredibly haunting location, Sara’s photojournalistic eye noticed remnants, like the police tape that was tied to a light pole from the night of the crime. As she captured portraits of Jalisa holding the flyer that asks for any information on the unsolved murder of her brother, Sara was deeply affected by her story and allowed herself space to process it before moving on to the next subject.

Pole wrapped in police tape at Jalisa Martin's brothers crime scene shot by Sara Stathas for the LA Times

When I finished taking photos I thanked Jalisa and told her how brave she was, showing up for this photoshoot, and telling her story. I cried when I got into my car, which is not typical after a shoot, and couldn’t stop thinking about Jalisa and so many other families in this city who are going through the same thing.

Jalisa Martin holding flyer for information shot by Sara Stathas for the LA Times

Sara also connected with Tonia Liddell, whose 414 Life program supports victims’ families in the first few days after a shooting. Tonia’s presence in the community is essential in the aftermath of this violence, and Sara saw firsthand the empathy she employs when aiding those who have lost loved ones. Tonia took Sara and Kurtis to the site of her own godson’s murder in 2005, where he (Preston) was sitting in his car with his girlfriend when he was shot and killed. She introduced them to Preston’s sisters, and while they asked some questions, Sara and Kurtis stepped back and bore witness to their shared grief.

We all gathered next to the spot where Preston was killed, and held space with the women who still carry the loss of their loved one deeply. I photographed them as they talked, Kurtis asked some questions, but essentially Tonia and the sisters talked and cried.

Screenshot of LA Times article featuring image shot by Sara Stathas

My favorite part of any project, and this project was no exception, is getting to connect with people one on one and getting to know them on a personal level when I photograph them. 

Tonia Liddell comforting woman shot by Sara Stathas for the LA Times

Sara’s biggest challenge was managing her emotion in the wake of the sorrow that came with each subject’s story. While she conducted herself with sensitivity around the delicate aspects of this project, Sara couldn’t help connect to the heartache felt in her own Milwaukee community. 

It was a very emotionally heavy assignment, the stories of some of these subjects were heartbreaking, especially Jalisa’s. I didn’t expect to be as emotional during the shoot with her as I was. 

Michelle Pitts outside her funeral home shot by Sara Stathas for the LA Times

When speaking about the assignment Sara remarks that “this project was not an uplifting story.” Milwaukee is not the only community struggling with gun violence and record-breaking homicide rates, but it’s difficult not to feel helpless when hearing the personal testimonies first-hand.

People like Tonia are working tirelessly to change things and make a real difference in the community, but it really feels like an impossible thing to change and I don’t know what I can personally do to help or what anyone could possibly do.

Michelle Pitts in the chapel area of the funeral home shot by Sara Stathas for the LA Times

What guided Sara through the more emotional areas of the assignment was her ability to act as a cultural anthropologist when documenting people’s stories. Sara briefly studied anthropology while in college, and it has since informed her ability to hold space with her subjects; to listen, take in, and observe their experiences before she captures their essence on film. While she can’t stop the violence, she can bring to light the situation the residents face and share their stories to empower people to shape a better future for generations to come.

Anthropology is the study of how people who share a common cultural system organize and shape the physical and social world around them. I was reminded that photo assignments like this are equally a study in cultural anthropology and making photos.

Credits

Photographer: Sara Stathas
Photography Director: Mary Cooney
Writer: Kurtis Lee


Let us help you Find Photographers, source Stock Photography,
and Produce Your Shoot — or just reach out to hear more!

< PREVIOUS
PUBLISHED
NEXT >
×
1 610 260 0200
[email protected]
260 Haverford Ave. Narberth, PA 19072