“Re:Seeing” was begun as a Tumblr in 2014 to explore Meehan’s process and all that she was learning as she met, interviewed, and photographed the people who would be represented in her series. In each piece, her voice is present alongside that of the person photographed, allowing Meehan to account for her own subjectivities during this journey of trying to understand others. Her ultimate goal is that the people who have worked with her will see themselves reflected authentically in the final production of her work.
Rafael – Providence, RI
I was in Olneyville Square, walking, when I heard something clanging behind me, metal against metal. An elderly man in a brown cap was riding a bicycle. Under…
Rhonda – Providence, RI
Rhonda says this portrait of her shows “mixed emotions”: “happy and kind of sad at the same time.” When I first met her, she was walking toward me…
Scott – Providence, RI
It’s Sunday morning on Manton Avenue, and I’m struggling. I go into a church and ask to make some portraits, but the pastor says he has to first…
Trudy – Providence, RI
I first met Trudy when the crocuses were in bloom. They were white, illuminated by the sun, scattered across her front lawn. As I stood staring she opened…
Providence Portraits
Providence Portraits is a new body of work that I will be posting here, formerly known as Seen/Unseen. It looks at the city of Providence, Rhode Island, through photographic…
ViolenceUnseen-Boston Globe
“Violence Unseen” is a response to the preponderance of street crime against Guatemalan immigrants – people of Mayan origin – who have settled in the port city of…
“Violence Unseen”
“Violence Unseen” Boston Sunday Globe, story and photographs by Mary Beth Meehan 2.9.2014
Marta – ViolenceUnseen
Marta was holding her sleeping son inside her doorway one morning last spring when a man pushed into the entryway and pressed a knife to her neck. “He…
ViolenceUnseen-Efrain
In September, Efraín was assaulted on the street by a group of kids, no more than ten or twelve years old. He says he saw their faces clearly….
Leonidas – New Bedford
Leonidas has done well at his job in New Bedford. He works at one of the many scallop processing plants in the city, progressing over the past three…
Antolin – New Bedford
It was on this block of New Bedford that Antolin was attacked, walking home from work at the fish house, at about 6:00 p.m. But it was December…
Rubén – New Bedford
Rubén has worked for 11 straight years in New Bedford – moving blocks of cement, hauling loads of fish – hard physical labor that he says he enjoys….