Vanessa Bahmani Selects Whitegate PR as Agency of Record

Jan. 3, 2012 - PRLog -- Bahmani has developed a compelling series of portraits at Occupy Wall Street, NYC titled “We Are the 99%.” The project consists of setting up an on-site photo booth, handing people a dry-erase board and a marker and asking them to write their reason for being at Occupy Wall Street. She documents the diverse 99% with an old medium format film camera and black and white film, resulting in a series of classic and striking portraits. She recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the necessary funds for the completion of this project. Visit her website at http://vanessabahmani.com and her Kickstarter Campaign at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1342262727/we-are-the-99-portrait-series.

Bahmani has archived several hundred portraits including men, women, children, teachers, students, veterans, pilots, and even investment bankers and other wall street employees and members of the 1% that seek change for our country. The thoughtfulness and sincerity that people have shown has inspired her to pursue this work and expand it further.

This project is important because it is documenting a moment in history when thousands came together with the common goal to create a more just and fair society for everyone. In addition to photographing at Zuccotti Park, the birthplace of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, Bahmani will take her project across the country to Occupy Oakland, California as well.  Despite the park raids, evictions, and the on going attempt to silence the voices of the movement, she will carry on in an attempt to compile over 1,000 voices from Oakland and New York City combined. Bahmani believes that by giving her photographs exposure, she can amplify the volume of the voices of the 99%.

This work has been exhibited at RUSH Arts Gallery in Chelsea (Dec.1-10, 2011), and is currently on display on the CURATE NYC on-line gallery. It has also been published in several issues of the Occupied Wall Street Journal. This work will be featured at the South Street Seaport Museum in NYC late January. Bahmani holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley and an MFA degree in Photography from School of Visual Arts in NYC.

Learn more about Vanessa Bahmani by visiting her website at http://vanessabahmani.com. Pledge now or check out the project on her Kickstarter page at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1342262727/we-are-the.... View photos on Flicker: http://flickr.com/photos/vanessabahmani/ or Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vanessabahmani.