Unbelievably beautiful man without holding back, he has lived a story and made a project far more valuable then the acclaimed ‘The Americans’ by RFrank. I’ve never heard of him, never saw his pictures, never saw his book but this a gem. The man has some quirks yeah sure but what a heart, what a mission and my god some of these photographs are absolutely stunning….
…Jacob came to Williams College in 1985 and completely opened my eyes to my own Black experience in America …He has been a patient teacher…how can we not be grateful for his testimony…
I remember buying the book and seeing the slideshow in "Huset" in Copenhagen back in the 70's, and was greatly affected by both - and not least Jacob's whole attitude towards the people he met. This interview just confirms my feelings back then, and is a great testament to Jacob and the project.
One of the most educating non-educating books ever! Jacob taught without teaching, lead without moralizing and showed without showing off! He is a “mensch” of art and wisdom🙏🏻♥️
Jacob’s father wanted him to be a minister. However, Jacob’s willingness to not only document the marginalized, also to fully embrace them, speaks louder and truer than any churchy sermons.
Life is AMAZING when we can leave prejudice behind and look people in the eye with Love. In all humility your images are a brilliant testament to that. May your interview and your life's work remind and inspire us to rise above the dividers of our day. Thank you.
😍 What a deeply way of living. I didn't know this photographer , and neither the "channel" but from now on I'll be watching you. 👍🏾 I'm a Mexican, living in Cancun and, from here, I LOVE YOU ALL . 🖖🏾
Your documentary impressed and touched me deeply. I am from Germany, that is why I came in contact with americans, in the eighties. I knew right away that I very much enjpyed the company of black americans. After years I also had a child with an black american. I don´t know if it is because of our gruesome german history, that I wanted to get as far away as possible from the german culture. Still nowadays I feel the same way, like I was born with the wrong colour. Your docu really hit my heart and of course, we all now how poorly blacks were and still are treated by white ppl- And I strongly believe ppl who are racist have a very bad childhood experience were they grew their anger. The most beautiful ppl are amongst the black americans.
I am new to this work of Mr. Jacob Holdt. Some very powerful images. Very articulate gentleman and he explained the power of love very well. Thank you very much for your enlightenment.
This man is someone who has genuinely given his life to his art, lived his politics and built bridges across communities. I wish I had 5% of his sincerity and surrender towards his artform.
Once again deeply inspired and moved by your story, pictures and more importantly by the history and lives of fellow human beings in this one world we all inhabit. Tak Jacob.
Respect my man. You are good person, suberp photographer. Your photos are pure and real tell the story of despair, anger, sadness and for most black people a lifelong misery due to a horrific history of slavery and suppression.
…Jacob brought a focus not only on disparities within The United States but also abroad…addressing South Africa’s Apartheid led to divestments on college campuses…
I get completely and utterly trapped for 58 minutes and 39 seconds. Not one too many. It's the magic between your words and the images that hits your viewers right in the heart - though it also speaks to the brain: this is also the USA and, as you suggest, it hasn't gotten any better. If I had interviewed you, I would have asked how to get into the lives of the people, so close, so brutally honest - photographing them "like I wasn't there". But see, the more you tell us, the more that question gets answered - and it is deeply touching, too, how you raised a few dollars to afford the film rolls. Oh pre-iPhone times! Of course, you could do just that because you are who you are - and because you built travellers' lives on respect and love, not saying no and not looking down on. Not objectifying. With this you've made a very important contribution - built bridges - between cultures, cultures and races - in short, to peace and reconciliation. Thanks, Jacob!! Jan Oberg
Yakhoob speaks truth, these are our people who live in dire poverty and hard to climb out of it... There are pictures of people like us, hard to see and hard to ignore.
Nice interview, I had to watch it a few times and was shocked on what I seen and heard especially the part where I received 3rd degree burns cause I never heard it told like that before due to what I remember but yu did say from your perspective. I wish I could've been in that interview with you on mi people back story cause no one ever spoke on what happened to the Indians in Tunica cause we are confused with Africans and are called African Americans as if we came from slavery I have nothing against Africans at all its like being looked over and the ones that are telling our story isn't giving it from our perspective. Mi people are the Indians from Tunica that have been there since 1790 census Tunica la, has two churches that Indians attended and all mi people are buried there now at both churches American Indians got enslaved between 1660 and 1715 as many as 50,000 Indigenous people were captured by other Indigenous tribe members "The Westos" Mi people been in Tunica LA, since Trudeau Landing founded 1731 abandoned 1764 Mi people was effected by the Indian removal act may 28, 1830-1860, Civil War April 12,1861 April 9,1865 , Reconstruction Era Dec 8,1863 March 31,1877 and many more I'm no way coming with any disrespect towards yu are your work it's just millions will see your truth and not ours.
How can you do all this work and still use the words "ghettos" and "blacks" and "ghetto blacks" (?!) and "blacks dealing with... things" to describe what you know? To still have such stubbornly outdated Danish descriptions? How can you really be so intimately connected to the 'subjects' you photograph and still use dehumanizing language. age should make us wiser. i guess when your language is photography your words stay underdeveloped and neglected? And a full hour... in proportion to all the other videos... we get validated, time spent, and 'beautified' through the white lens :-(
Hi there, I am a 'white' woman, being married to a 'black' man for 31 years and as we in our society always label each other, in order to describe each other I guess, 'white' and 'black' are also the terms my husband and I use about ourselves, each other and others of our races....But as I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, I am interested in knowing your suggestion to which words would be more respectful to use, instead of 'white' and 'black' ? 🌷🌸💕🪷
I wouldn't use the phrase 'full of shit' despite his good intentions and phenomenal pictures, he IS definitely ignorant and idealistic about certain aspects of human behavior and reality.
