Photography That Focuses on Those Who Are Often Not Seen
The New York Times
Fine Arts & Exhibits special report
By Geraldine Fabrikant
From New York to Los Angeles, Black, L.G.B.T.Q., Native American and women artists are exhibiting works that highlight their communities and personal perspectives.
During the pandemic, Isolde Brielmaier, curator at large at the International Center of Photography, began wondering how Black photographers were navigating that crisis — particularly as the battle for racial justice heightened after the murder of George Floyd and the 2020 presidential race played out.
So she picked five emerging photographers, all of whom live in the United States, who she said are “representative of a generation coming up today.’’ The result is “Inward: Reflections on Interiority,” an exhibition of 47 images that draws on the genres of self portraiture.
Included in the exhibition are works by Djeneba Aduayom, Arielle Bobb-Willis, Quil Lemons, Brad Ogbonna and Isaac West that go “beyond simply documenting the world in which they moved,” Ms. Brielmaier said. “This is a generation who has a certain sense of freedom to work across what used to be fairly firm boundaries.”
The photographers were directed to use their smartphones — “their image-making tool,” she said — and turn the lens on themselves. “And they are sharing images that reflect their interior lives,” Ms. Brielmaier said.
The show at the International Center of Photography on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, which runs until Jan. 10, is one of many across the United States that is spotlighting the work of Black photographers, as well as artists from other racial and ethnic groups.
Museums and galleries in Los Angeles, St. Louis, Boston, New York and Richmond, Va., among others, have been featuring works that show the range of art being created by once-marginalized artists, and provide insights into their outer worlds and individual perspectives.
The works cover a variety of styles and focus, including portraiture, conceptual pieces and fashion photography. The artists are both newcomers and others who already are established in the photography world.
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The California African American Museum in Los Angeles is exhibiting the work of LaToya Ruby Frazier. “The Last Cruze,” which runs until March 20, chronicles the closing of the General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio, in 2019, and the impact on its workers. Ms. Frazier’s family migrated from the South to Braddock, Pa., the home of Andrew Carnegie’s first steel mill, and her life experience provided an intimate perspective on the costs of plant shutdowns.
“The intention was to show the true value of labor and solidarity,” Ms. Frazier said of “The Last Cruze.” “We desperately need it right now.”
Courtesy of: The New York Times
