Undocumented lives, inside out

JR launched the participatory art project INSIDE OUT to highlight our shared humanity. Travel with a group of people who packed up their lives and got on the INSIDE OUT bus, crossing the United States to capture portraits of undocumented people and those that support them.

JR: Art is not supposed
to change the world.

But art can change
the way we see the world.

(Music)

So now my wish is ...

for you to stand up
for what you care about

by participating in a global art project.

And together, we'll turn
the world inside out.

[Great big story
in partnership with TED]

Narrator: They had a big idea
to change the world.

But they couldn't do it alone.

(Voices overlapping)
So, my wish ... My wish ... I wish ...

And now, here's my wish.

[Torchbearers]

[Ideas in action]

(Camera clicking)

JR: My name is JR,
I like to call myself an artist.

There are two ways
of thinking about my work.

The easy way is just -- I'm papering
black-and-white images on walls.

But I believe my work
is about connecting people.

For me, it's the power
of bringing people together.

I went there to do art projects
with the community.

Now I realize that the community
wanted to do art projects

even more than I wanted.

And I started thinking:

Why I don't take myself
out of the equation and let them do it?

So the wish was pretty simple:

we just put up a website
and you can send us your photo

for whatever you believe in
or whatever you want to fight for;

we'll send you back
your photo in large format,

wherever you are in the world.

Every day, I see rolls leaving
around the world.

The project went much further
than the places I've been,

and that shows the power of art.

And the Photobooths truck
is the magic of it.

(Music)

Luana: We're a team of four
traveling in the Photobooths truck:

Josh, Basel, Jamie and I.

Jamie: To pose,
they should look like this.

(Laughter)

We are using two of these trucks

to cover 30 cities around America.

Luana: We're just a tool for people
that want to send a positive message.

Jamie: Step inside
and take a seat over here.

Once the truck is ready and running,

anyone can come.

Wait for the flash.

(Music)

(Camera clicking)

Touch the screen, take your picture,
type in information.

In a matter of a minute or so,

we print on the side, three by four feet.

No one is used to seeing
their face so big.

Woman: Oh yeah,
there's my funny face for you.

Jamie: The truck has this magic

about bringing photography
back to the print.

Then the posters go to the wall.

We use wallpaper glue,
put them up and that's it.

We printed more
than 300,000 faces already.

And we sent them
to more than 130 countries.

(Music)

Luana: It's the people's art project.

We don't decide the message.

It can be political,
to bring attention to issues.

Jamie: I love the idea of using
photography to promote change.

This specific project
is to raise awareness

about the DREAMers situation.

Karina Ruiz: INSIDE OUT is bringing
the opportunity for DREAMers like myself,

a person that came here at young age
to have a better future,

to come out and give a face to the issue.

Vianey Perez: When people drive by
and they see a lot of faces,

they're going to get curious
and they're going to wonder who they are.

That's the face to the issue.

To humanize it.

(Music)

JR: You do think that just pasting
an image up there might have no impact,

but it does have an impact.

You cannot know when and how,
but it's worth trying.

Jamie: It all starts
with believing. Right?

And so, if you don't believe
that you can make change,

change will never happen.

Even if it's a very small change
in one person, that's a positive change.

This is not about JR anymore.

It's about everyone who believes
that art can change the world.

JR: I think that definitely art can change
the perception we have about the world.

And if we start seeing
the world differently,

maybe it's a good path
to start changing the world.

[Be a part of INSIDE OUT
InsideOutProject.net]