Modelling & Interview: Activists of Brighton

Luisa De la Concha Montes @erst.while is a visual artist, photographer and writer born and raised in Mexico City, and started this project as a personal attempt to make sense of the summer of 2020 – a historical moment of political turmoil and confusion. A summer that fueled emotions of anger and started conversations about privilege, identity and systemic change. In an attempt to translate the social media noise into congruent sounds, Luisa held a series of conversations with seven Brighton-based activists. The aim was to exercise silence as a form of resistance, and about giving space (physical, audio-visual and digital) to those that had something to say. By inviting each activist to talk about the tensions between mental health and political work, the goal was to reject the myth of the invincible activist, and demonstrate that care and vulnerability should be at the heart of political change. ‘The Activists of Brighton’ is about hope, it is about believing in the need to build alternative futures. It is a collaborative project dedicated to those who make the conscious choice to fight for collective change. In my interview, Luisa and I emphasised the value of self-awareness in my own journey: “The liberation is for BIPOC people, it is not for the ego of white people. My aim has been to navigate my activism through humility and honesty so I don’t look like a saviour myself. In order to make change, we need to crumble the façade that activists need to have all the answers.”