Michele Zousmer – MIS[S]UNDERSTOOD

Review by Douglas Stockdale ·

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible – Maya Angelou

I am captivated by a photobook’s cover in which it seems to offer two truths, especially when both appear correct. So it is for me with Michele Zousmer’s MIS[S]UNDERSTOOD, a photo-documentary that “explores the pivotal role of women in the Irish Traveller community”. Probably best that I acknowledge a slight bias in writing this book review, as Zousmer was in my photobook development workshop a number of years ago and her Irish Traveller project, although well into development, was the subject of a number of critiques. Nevertheless, I did not see it in its final form until Zousmer sent me a review copy.

This book should be considered a testimonial to Zousmer’s ability to gain an individual’s confidence in this relatively closed community, which was something that she has stated came slowly over repeated visits spanning years. It appears that as a social (self) defense, the Irish Travellers have created a collective persona that is projected to the outsiders. Such as the young girls learning the implied sexuality of a pouty-pose at a young age, meanwhile the boys learn to take on the appearances of being the tough-guys. If this pseudo-characterization is encountered in the public often enough, then perhaps as a community, they do become in danger of being misunderstood.

This is the delicate balance that Zousmer investigates, the Traveller’s public persona versus when they are in a private space they appear no different from you and me. To peel back the layers of surface veneer to find the individuals lurking underneath, in a sense to pierce the veil, of this community was probably daunting.

Layered within this photodocumentary are a series of individual quotes from Zousmer’s interviews about the challenges of being in the Traveller community, although her captions are not directly related to the adjacent photograph. This additional background provides a wonderful external social context to the photographs as Zousmer attempts to help us understand this minority community’s social challenges.

On the surface, most of these portraits of individuals do not appear any different than those who are called the ’landed’ (non-Traveller) Irish, with lots of red hair and freckles, until you note their surrounding environment elements; locations are frequently parking lots, cars are in need of repair, the presence of external out-houses, multiple mobile trailers and or motor vans, including both the exteriors and relatively cramped and simple interiors. Or perhaps the presence of ponies and horses. And sometimes the difference in attire, with the women appearing what I might term dressed in ‘over-the-top’ uber-sexuality while the men appear inappropriately plain and under-dressed for the same high-occasion event, fourth page spread below.

I suspect that with any complex minority community, that fifty-five images may not be enough to dispel any ongoing prejudices, while I think that Zousmer’s objective and non-emotional investigation of this frequently maligned community strikes a wonderful balance to reveal the underlying care and warmth that resides within this tight-knit community.

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Douglas Stockdale is the Senior Editor and Founder, PhotoBook Journal

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MIS[S]UNDERSTOOD, Michele Zousmer

Photographer: Michele Zousmer, born NYC and resides in San Diego, CA

Essays: Michele Zousmer and Elin Spring with interview quotes

Text: English

Hard covers, offset printing, 10 x 10 inches, 55 images and printed in Turkey by Ofset Yapimevi, ISBN 978-1-054119-41-3

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