We are water | We are earth | We are sky is an exhibition about how we live entwined with natural systems. We do not co-exist with nature - we exist within it. In our increasingly digitized lives it can be easy to forget that we remain physical animals, tied to a physical body that is made up of natural elements. We are still 70% water, we are still what we eat, we still breathe the air. We are inherently one with our ecosystems. When our ecosystems are healthy, so are we. When we pump toxins into the air and water, we pump toxins into ourselves.

Since the 1999 Columbine High School mass shooting and the subsequent explosion of gun violence in the U.S., Judy Dater has been driven to explore the many sides of the gun divide in America. Her research revealed that gun owners, and their personal reasons for owning them, are diverse and do not fit neatly into stereotypes.

These portraits and interviews were conducted without judgement and with the desire to display the diversity of gun owners in Judy’s backyard; the Bay Area. The intent of these photographs, as for most of her work, is to open a dialogue and ask questions, not to give answers. Judy loves the phrase, “Don’t believe everything you think.”

This exhibition has been funded by the Leonian Foundation and Joan Brenchley, friend and supporter of Judy Dater.

An exhibition exploring how family stories and oral histories are preserved, passed down, and shared by our elders. How do we know who we are or where we're headed, if we don't know how we got here? These photographic artists explore themes of identity, history and self actualization through family archives, documents, memories and personal photographs to help retell the stories of their elders and their connections to them. It is through the stories we inherit that help us understand who we are and the journey it took to stand where we are. We are the extension of those who came before us. These are the stories we share.

Featured Artists: Gene Dominique, Jessica Chen, Laura Ming Wong, Matthew Hoang, Najee Tobin, Ngân Vũ, Senny Mau, and Stella Kalaw

Curated by Jessica Chen

Womanhood is an experience. With all of the glamor and grace that comes with being a woman, there is also messiness and frustration. For this exhibition, East Bay Photo Collective has partnered with Counter Collective to explore what it means to be a woman today. We have collected submissions that explore all facets of womanhood – from feelings, to symbolic objects, to gestures or forms or self-expression. With this work, we would like to examine the complexities of womanhood and femininity beyond the confines of assigned sex, age, or location.

About Counter Collective

The Counter Collective was founded in the summer of 2020 to create a space that elevates the voices of those looked over in traditional art circles. We aim to provide the opportunity for female-identifying and non-binary folx to share their work in established spaces, to hold workshops to encourage their practices, and overall, to create a network where we can exchange ideas and encourage each other’s growth.