Every year I look forward to February. For me it has always been a month of learning that extends beyond 28 days. I’ve historically dedicated Black History Month to highlighting an Artist a Day on the blog. It’s not only a labor of love, it has been an immensely helpful and impactful writing challenge for … Continue reading Artist a Day 2021: Something New
The New York Times recently reported that photographer Shawn Walker, one of the founding members of New York’s Kamoinge Collective, will have his work added to the collection of the Library of Congress. The acquisition of over 100,000 photos, negatives and other material is being collected and archived in conjunction with the Photography Collections Preservation … Continue reading Artist a Day: Revisiting Shawn Walker
I love highlighting photographers on the blog and noticed that in prior year’s Artist a Day posts I focused on the work of Black male photographers, with the one exception being Ming Smith. I thought it was time to highlight current photographers who are forging new paths in fashion photography that radically define redefine how … Continue reading Artist a Day: Adrienne Raquel
I’ve spent the better part of this rainy week devoting time in the Artist a Day series to the incredible black and white photography created by artists in the Kamoinge Workshop; one common thread among them is that many were represented by the now shuttered Steven Kasher Gallery in New York. Kasher wound down his … Continue reading Artist a Day: Louis Draper
Good storytelling, just like a good joke, lives and dies on timing. It comes as no surprise that photographer Beuford Smith knows a thing or two about timing. His black and white photography capturing the streets of New York all bear the same marker of sublime, serendipitous timing. Smith’s photographs are mementos of moments which … Continue reading Artist a Day: Beuford Smith
As an eleven year old growing up in Queens, Dawoud Bey came upon a copy of a book published by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee called “The Movement”. With text by Lorraine Hansberry accompanied by photographs from numerous artists, the book captured the pain, political vitriol, emotion and hatred that swirled around Civil Rights workers in the early … Continue reading Artist a Day Challenge (14): Dawoud Bey
The other day at Arcana books in Culver City, I was able to thumb through a rare copy of The Sweet Flypaper of Life which featured photography by Roy DeCarava set to the prose of Langston Hughes. This photo caught my attention, not only for the moment of tenderness it captured, but also because it reminded me of … Continue reading Artist a Day Challenge (13): Carrie Mae Weems
Photography has always been used as a powerful tool for social change. From Frederick Douglass’ early adoption of photography a medium for countering negative images, to Sojourner Truth’s use of Cartes de Visites, W.E.B DuBois’ curated images at the Paris Exhibition of 1900, to James Van Der Zee’s documenting of the black middle class during the Harlem … Continue reading Artist a Day Challenge (11): Roy DeCarava
Culture Shock Art 