Momenta welcomes this week’s guestagrammer, Julia Cumes

Age: 44

Current job: Photographer

Current location: Massachusetts, USA

​Website: juliacumes.com

Connection to Momenta: I attended Project New Orleans, 2015.

A young woman bathes in a communal bathing area before worshipping at the Yellamma temple during the Yellamma Festival in Saundatti, India. As part of Yellamma custom, all worshippers must wash before worshipping and during the full moon festival, young girls from impoverished lower caste families are “married” to the goddess Yellamma to appease her. Once they are married to Yellamma, they are regarded as servants to the deity and must perform temple duties as well as satisfy the sexual needs of the priests and other men in the community. They may no longer marry a man and often end up being sold by unscrupulous priests to pimps who take them to work in the red-light districts of India’s urban areas. @Julia Cumes

Tell us about your journey as an image-maker and how you got to where you are today.

As a child growing up in South Africa during the apartheid era, I once found a secret stash of photographs in my mother’s desk drawer. They were black and white portraits of children who had been tortured by the apartheid government. I knew that my parents were counseling children who’d been detained by the apartheid government. I remember one particular photo of a young boy—about 13 years old— with both arms in plaster casts. I was so struck by the power of that image and the story it told. That photograph became etched in my mind and has fueled my passion for photography and for documenting issues of social injustice.

With a storm brewing on the horizon, Ikiwa Abdulla heads out at low tide to gather shellfish in Fumba, Zanzibar.  Abdulla is a participant in a shellfish program that hopes to teach women in Zanzibar how to cultivate shellfish. While women already harvest shellfish, the program will help replenish the already overfished stocks of oysters and clams and promote economic opportunities for women in rural villages in Zanzibar. ©Julia Cumes

What stories or issues are you most passionate about covering?

After doing a masters in Photojournalism at Syracuse University and working on a variety of projects, I realized there were two main subjects I found myself photographing. One was stories about girl’s and women’s issues and the other was stories about wildlife and animal rescue. This was initially inspired by my work with the International Fund for Animal Welfare but I soon found myself seeking out these kinds of projects.

Where do you look for inspiration for your work: books, movies, authors, photographers, art, certain people?

I seek inspiration in the work of other photographers (many of whom are my peers and friends), in publications like National Geographic, in art and literature and especially in listening to people’s personal stories. I pay attentions to local news stories, community listings, anecdotes from friends…anything that could lead to an interesting project or collaboration.

 Reverend Gerald Gilmore, 100, and his granddaughter, Nina Gilmore, share  a moment of connection at his home in Orleans, MA. Nina had come to Cape Cod to spend the last few months with her grandfather who, she said, was like a father to her. “He was filled with adventure, whimsy and light,” she said. A few days after this photo was taken, Reverend Gilmore passed away. ©Julia Cumes

What social media or news feeds do you follow regularly? 

I listen to NPR constantly and regularly pay attention to the NYTimes, lensblog, politico, National Geographic Your Shot, NPPA, PDN and many others on a less consistent basis.

Children skip at one of Durban Deep gold mine’s old hostels on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa. During the previous few weeks, all the power cables in the area were dug up and stolen, leaving the entire area without any power. Ironically, these children are using the stolen cable casing as skipping ropes. The Durban Deep Gold Mine community is primarily made up of people squatting in the now abandoned hostels that miners used to live in. The squatters have little access to any social support services and live with the constant threat of eviction since they have no legal claims to the hostel property.  ©Julia Cumes

What is one passion you have outside of photography that might come as a surprise to our readers?

I absolutely love flat water stand up paddle boarding. During the warmer months, I take my dog, Winnie the Pooch, with me as often as possible for paddle boarding excursions here on Cape Cod. He swims and runs next to me while I paddle and it makes us both very happy. I try to paddle board wherever I travel and so far I’ve paddle boarded in Morocco, Indonesia, New Zealand and Hawaii.

The hands of Alice Mendes,105, and her great-grandniece, Sophie Friend,12, lie intertwined on Alice’s lap. The two have always had a powerful connection and have been pen pals for the past few years. Alice, who despite her age, remains the adored family matriarch, immigrated to the United States as an infant from Cape Verde in 1910. “Things were really different back then. No gas stoves, no street lights or traffic lights. I remember my mother getting up early in the morning to start the coal stove so that the house would be warm when we woke up,” she explains. Alice spent much of her life working as a nanny and housekeeper and married the love of her life, Jimmy Mendes, a professional boxer and fisherman who ended up dying at sea in a storm. ©Julia Cumes

What can we expect to see next week from your “guestagramming” on our Momenta Instagram account?

I plan to post a combination of images from various projects about women’s issues and also from my “Uncommon Journeys” series. I hope to present viewers with a version of the world they may not otherwise have the opportunity to see and engage them in dialog about this extraordinary, complex and often beautiful world we live in.

#seizethemomenta, and follow @momentaworkshops on Instagram to see Julia’s great work!