For the Love of Empathy

While working together on the Before During After project (Louisiana Photographer’s Respond to Hurricane Katrina), photographers Kleinveld & Julien decided to embark on a new body of work in response to the inequalities that were exposed during Hurricane Katrina. Kleinveld & Julien, both from New Orleans and working under the artist name (E2), aim to bring about a discussion on the consequences of stereotypes and how they can lead to prejudice and discrimination with their series For the Love of Empathy. Americans equate life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness with a person’s civil rights. Yet stereotypes can curtail these rights, leading to racism and/or discrimination and in some cases may hinder a person’s civil liberties, such as the right to marry the person they choose, regardless of sex. Even in a country such as the Netherlands, the first to embrace gay marriage and to promote it, the laws are not equal. E2 believes that creating awareness of one’s stereotypes and dialogues about this is a step in the direction of being able to put yourself in the shoes of someone else.

In order to bring about this dialogue, E2 decided to take iconic images and remake them with a twist. Beginning with the Flemish Primitives and spanning almost 600 years of art history, this series is made in conjunction with the Dutch National Theatre, which generously provides many of the costumes, wigs and props for the historical images. Highlights of the series include works based on: van Eyck, Rafael, Velásquez, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Gainsborough, Fragonard, David, and Manet. E2 has also developed a coat of arms, playing with the traditional symbol of the aristocracy and giving it a completely new meaning. E2’s coat has their logo in the middle with the fleur de lis on top, a pelican on each side and a ribbon gracing the shield with the phrase: In Empathy We Trust. This idea came about after they were inspired by the work of Clare du Duras, a French writer who wrote the novella Ourika in 1824. This was one of the first times that a writer tried to put themselves in the shoes of someone from another race or culture. E2 hopes that this series will ask the viewer to do the same, but not only in relation to race or culture, but also in terms of a person’s age, sex, sexual orientation, job choice, body adornments, disabilities etc.