Grant Baldwin's 2019 Pride Festival image featured: Officials in counties outside Charlotte censored LGBTQ+ content. Can they do that?

 Via The Charlotte Observer

August 18, 2022

The Gaston County manager ordered this photograph of two newlywed men kissing at the 2019 Charlotte Pride Parade & Festival pulled from a photography exhibit at the Gaston County Museum, according to a county statement and the photographer, Grant Baldwin/Grant Baldwin Photography

"Before the pandemic put a pause to the Queen City’s in-person festivities, Charlotte Pride hired local photojournalist Grant Baldwin to document its 2019 parade. Among the shots, Baldwin snapped a portrait of two men — Justin Colasacco and Bren Hipp — kissing in celebration just after getting engaged.

As a rainbow-festooned gaggle of cheers erupted behind them, Baldwin thought the shot would be perfect for the Gaston County Museum’s roundup of artistic and documentary photographs. Museum officials agreed initially. They accepted the photo and displayed it as part of the summer 2022 “Into the Darkroom” exhibit, Baldwin said. Ultimately, county manager Kim Eagle told museum staff to replace the photograph with one “more considerate of differing viewpoints in the community,” county spokesman Gaub said. It remains shelved, but the removal has sparked calls for more LGBTQ recognition in the county. It garnered praise for Baldwin and the couple elsewhere. The photo will take a place of honor in a New Mexico exhibit soon. “It’s reaffirmed in me that there’s still more work to be done to live up to the motto of Gastonia being an All-American city – live, work and play – when a subset of the population is not viewed as equals,” Charlotte Pride spokesman and Gastonia resident Clark Simon said. “So there’s more work to be done.”

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Grant Baldwin's photograph is featured in the exhibition "Imagine A World Without Photojournalism", on view through September 18, 2022.

Censorship Is a Missing Picture: Photojournalist Grant Baldwin discusses what we don't see

 Via  Charlotte Journalism Collaborate

Censorship Is a Missing Picture: Photojournalist Grant Baldwin discusses what we don't see

Grant Baldwin: 2019 Charlotte, North Carolina Pride Parade, August 18, 2019

What is censorship? How do we recognize when it is happening, and how do we address it? Please join local photojournalist Grant Baldwin to discuss his photographs, their impact, and his experience with censorship.

The Gaston County Manager ordered the removal of a photograph on display as part of an exhibit titled Into the Darkroom at the Gaston County Museum of Art and History. According to the Charlotte Observer, "LGBTQ equality advocates are demanding officials in Gaston County reverse their decision to remove a photo showing two men recently engaged, kissing, from a museum exhibit. The photograph, taken by Charlotte freelance photojournalist Grant Baldwin, shows Justin Colasacco and his husband Bren Hipp kissing after Colasacco dropped to one knee and proposed in front of the crowd at the 2019 Charlotte Pride Festival & Parade. They married Oct. 4, 2020." According to the Gaston Gazette, the Gaston County Manager claimed that the photograph was political advocacy and wanted Mr. Baldwin to replace it with something else. The photojournalist chose instead to leave the display spot on the wall empty to demonstrate that something was missing.

Grant Baldwin is an award-winning freelance photojournalist based in Charlotte NC who focuses on visual story telling. His work has appeared in multiple local and national news outlets. He recently won the North Carolina Press Association's 2020 Best Multimedia Project for Black Lives Matter Coverage. 

Please join the Charlotte Journalism Collaborate to discuss what censorship means in our community.

Grant Baldwin's photograph is featured in the current exhibit "Imagine A World Without Photojournalism", on view through September 18. Monroe Gallery hosted Nina Berman and David Butow for a discussion on July 22: Threats to Photojournalism".