In 2012, after struggling with a significant loss of income from my photography business following the 2008 economic decline, my debt skyrocketed, and I made the difficult decision to file for bankruptcy. This inspired my interest in investigating how debt affects our identities and how we relate to the world. Debt is publicly enforced and highly stigmatized but is almost always privately experienced. It is in many ways an abstract form without material weight or structure, yet it has a heavy physicality and is a burden in a person’s everyday life.
The Debt Project is a photographic and multimedia exploration into the role that debt plays in our personal identities and social structures. I began the project by asking subjects to sit for a formal portrait in their homes, surrounded by their belongings, in a way that’s reminiscent of the early Flemish portrait-painting tradition, and answer a series of questions on camera about their debt. I also asked them to handwrite the amount of debt they are in and tell the story behind it.
So far, I have shot 32 people in the Bay Area, New York City, Portland, and the Detroit metro areas. My goal is to photograph 99 people across the US in order to bring people together to talk about and recontextualize an abstract, often shamed condition. It is my hope that by having a platform to discuss this issue, it will encourage the viewer and participants to question and reframe our perceptions of debt and how we contribute to its power and role in society today. Below is a compilation of the Bay Area participants and their stories.
I recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund completion costs of the project. Please feel free to donate if you like the project. Or if you are interested in participating in this project, please contact me at Brittany@brittanympowell.com
“In my early 20s, I got a credit card to ‘build credit.’ They somehow gave me a $6,000 limit. At the time, I never had money to pay bills and eat, so I decided to buy some new clothes. Why not? Soon that avalanched until I could not pay off my debt at the end of the month. Dental bills, car repairs, plane tickets, groceries, and gas were put on the card. No matter how I try to chip away, I can never seem to get out from under it, even though I live a frugal life.”
“I’ve been in and out of graduate school since 2003, with brief stints of full-time work in between degrees. Although I have (had!) a small amount of savings, it was never commensurate with my decisions to attend an expensive school, cover the difference between income (fellowships) and monthly expenses, or support my desires to live in expensive cities (New York, San Francisco).”
“I was given a high credit line after receiving life-insurance money. While grieving and not working, I accumulated over $20K in debt on frivolous spending.”
“My debt comes from student loans and being naive about finances. Also, the fact that we live in a culture that values debt and money more than education and the next generation.”
“I first started accumulating debt to travel after a study-abroad trip to Spain. While it scared me a little, I thought the benefit outweighed the cost. Since then, my debt has increased due to moving around the state of California and pursuing a journalism career – while taking care of life expenses (rent, a car) along the way. Taking on some debt has ultimately helped me achieve independence from my parents and launch a career, but now I want to pay it off!”
“I acquired most of my debt ($35K) while in graduate school pursuing a PhD in economics.”
“I bought a truck and moved to California, where work was scarce. Then I decided to go back to school to finish a degree. After graduation, I decided to start my own business and take on more loans needed for equipment and slow times. Within the second year of business, I had to buy a new truck due to an accident. By the third year of business, I was making triple payments on most loans so as to pay them off quickly. Then the economy tanked, and my triple payments were barely a single payment due to most lenders ramping up their interest rates to cover ‘losses.’”
“Master’s degree (four years).
Real estate deal.
Unemployment.”
“When I finished graduate school, the jobs I was getting didn’t cover my expenses for the first year. I was spending to create opportunities and trying to stay in a city that was expensive but could support my skill set. Along the way, car expenses, rent, food, and medical bills have been momentary setbacks.”
“I was audited by the IRS for opening a medical-cannabis dispensary in 2004 and 2005. The IRS applied an obscure IRS provision, 280E, which disallowed me from deducting cannabis ‘cost of goods’ as a standard business deduction. Subsequently, I am forced to pay the full income tax plus interest and penalties. Added to that huge tax burden, I suffered a brain aneurysm, had surgery, and had to spend 10 days in the ICU without health coverage!”
“I was working for a start-up, and they could afford to pay me only very little, so I racked up debt on credit cards to pay for everyday life stuff. Then, the business went under, the recession hit, I moved, I couldn’t find a job, and I’ve been under ever since.”
“Bad mortgage and a job loss in 2005.”