Lorna Tychostup
Photojournalist and writer, Lorna Tychostup is Senior Editor of Chronogram magazine [www.Chronogram.com], a monthly progressive publication with a distribution of approx. 20,000 in the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York. Tychostup has been working on an independent photography project entitled, “Defining Patriotism” capturing images of national and international peace actions across since 9/11. As part of this project, Tychostup spent three weeks in Iraq in Feb 2003 from which a separate photography show emerged entitled, “The War on Iraq: Looking into the Eyes of the Enemy” Tychostup has been a guest on several major network and cable TV shows, including Fox’s Hannity & Colmes and Tom Brokaw’s Nightly News. She has also done a number of radio interviews in her effort bring attention to issues surrounding the war in Iraq.
Of “Defining Patriotism” Tychostup says, “In the days following the WTC attack, a reactive shockwave of fear instigated a redefinition of certain terms — among them the word “patriotism.” As a war cry rose from a supposed 85% American majority calling for acts of retribution, a smaller group took to the streets in the name of peace. They demanded that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights be upheld. As is many times the case, I accidentally found myself in the middle of one of the first of these rallies just five days after 9/11 at the Brooklyn Promenade, camera in hand. In light of the fact that the mass media outlets seemed and continued to seem oblivious to the actions of these people calling for peace, I made a commitment to capture the movement of this minority. However unpalatable for some, I feel these open displays of yet another definition of patriotism deserve, at the very least, documentation.”
“My commitment is to get these photos shown in as many places as possible to encourage people to actively participate in a peace movement that does indeed exist, or at the very least, to help allay the fear of those who might be afraid to speak out in the face of the war rhetoric.”