A few days after I photographed Osheaga Festival for ADDICTED Magazine, I ran into my editor, Nadia Elkharadly, who commented on the ethnic and gender diversity of the artists I covered.
Of the 41 artists I saw at Osheaga, 39% had female representation, and 41% had POC representation. While this is still short of the 50:50 gender balance many festivals are working toward for the 2022 Keychange pledge, these personal statistics are heartwarming.
At the time of our conversation, I didn't realize I had documented a diverse group of performers - and I felt embarrassed for failing to recognize this myself. While the fact I was able to capture this diversity without conscious effort is a positive sign, if we are striving toward representation, we have to be aware of it, and celebrate when it occurs.
As you may, or may not be aware, I have a spreadsheet I keep of every concert I've attended since 2005. As of today, I’m going to begin tracking presence of female and POC artists as a data point.
You can check out more of my Osheaga photos here.
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