Chester Higgins Jr.

thumb|Chester Higgins Jr. in 2022 Chester Higgins Jr. (born November 1946) is an American photographer who was a staff photographer with the New York Times for more than four decades, and whose work has notably featured the life and culture of people of African descent. Quotes "Chester Higgins' camera brings a 360 degree view to Black life" (2022) "Chester Higgins' camera brings a 360 degree view to Black life"- Kosu(31 March 2022) There's this Black man who's standing in a very calm, still position. His eyes are closed and gradually his eyes open, he raises up his hands. As he's walking towards me and extending his hand and says, 'I come for you. They found a sense of agency in themselves that they hadn't seen before, that reaffirmed their sense of worthiness. I picked up the camera out of love for my family. I did not have a long term plan with the camera. But what changed that is the civil rights movement. We weren't seen as American citizens petitioning our government. We were seen as potential arsonists, rapists or just thugs. It taught me that a picture never lies about the photographer. The Spirit brought this man into my life, the door opens and here he is. He calls me over and says, 'Here, take a look.' I went and I looked and I was amazed. I asked him, 'Was that my picture?' He said, 'Yes, that's your picture but you didn't know it. All this other stuff was competing with it and you didn't know what to zero in on. This is what Rothstein trained me for. I wanted to have my images on the world stage. Being in Africa, I've discovered, is quite a relief for me because... [when I go, I'm] in the majority. I don't have to worry about people looking at my color and [I'm] a target, people not knowing me and they hate me. I've found that the whole stress of racism just lifts off your shoulder. My overall assignment was to create a visual encyclopedia of the life and times of people of African descent. I just lumbered along, following The Spirit, following my interests. And that's what I still do. Viewed his job as a calling and the taking of photographs as a sacrament. External links Category:Photographers from the United States Category:People from Alabama Category:African Americans Category:1946 births Category:Living people