An Exhibition of African American Photographers from the Daguerreian to the Digital Eras
This exhibition consists of works from various mediums tracing an aesthetic and cultural trajectory unique to African Americans and American Art. These art works selected from the permanent collections offer the strongest affirmation that the human face and body are the most enduring subject in the visual arts and in particular for African Americans artists.
A loose portrait print recently discovered in the manuscript collection of Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753 – December 5, 1784), will be on display for the first time in this exhibition. This engraving served as the frontispiece for her book; Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral published 1773 in London. It is the earliest documented extant example of a fine art portrait of an African in Colonial America. The inscription in the oval frame of the portrait reads: Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley of Boston. The coming American Revolution was a rebellion to set men free. Wheatley’s portrait and her poetry, which has an Abolitionist and Christian theme, confront the viewer with the contradictory reality of American ideals versus its reality.
This disconnect is an on going theme in African American art that finds one of its strongest expressions in photography- the most democratic and mimetic of art forms. Photography’s accessibility has been instrumental in establishing fertile ground for an ongoing tradition of accomplishment at the highest level by African Americans. Beginning with its origins in 1839 to the present day.
James Van Der Zee “Secretary, 1929”, Purchase James Van Der Zee, 1980
Selected works including James P. Ball (1825-1904) oval sixth plate daguerreotype titled Mulatto Woman is the earliest photograph in the exhibition and one of the smallest. Contemporary photographer, Donald Camp’s portrait,Brother Who Taught Me to See/ Herbert Camp (from Dust Shaped Heart Series) 2006 is one of the largest. This portrait’s expressionist and painterly qualities imbue it with a love of form and mastery of technique.
Stephen Marc (American b. 1954) Soul Searching [1997] Gelatin silver print, black and white; 29x35cm Museum of Contemporary Photography purchase through the Presidential Photography Fund, February 1999
Richard Saunders (American 1922-1987) Pittsburgh, PA ,1952 [1952] Gelatin silver print, black and white; 33x23cm Haverford, Haverford College Special Collections
John E. Dowell Jr. (American b. 1941) Houston II [2005] Pigmented ink-jet print, colored; 75x58cm Photo Review auction purchase through the Fogel Family Fund, November 2006
Richard Saunders (American, b. in Bermuda 1922-1987) L’Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, Deschapelles, Haiti, 1958 [1958] Gelatin silver print, black and white; 33x23cm Deborah Roberts gift in memory of Deborah Hathaway Calkins, Roberts’ mother, December 1986
Richard Samuel Roberts (American 1880-1936) Untitled [boy with rooster] [ca. 1920, 1986] Gelatin silver print, black and white; 26x20cm Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill purchase through Rare Books, January 1987. Magill Library
James Presley Ball (American 1825-1904) Portrait of a Mulatto Woman [ca.1850] Six-plate daguerreotype, black and white; 7x6cm visible oval , in case 9x8cm Charles Schwarz, Ltd. purchase through the Presidential Discretionary Fund, February 1999
Prentice Herman Polk (American 1898-1984) Chief Anderson and Eleanor Roosevelt [1930s] Gelatin silver print, black and white; 21x25cm Swann Gallery auction purchase, spring 1993
Hank Willis Thomas (American b. 1976) Branded Chest [2003] Platinum print, black and white; 26x16cm Light Work purchase, summer 2008
Andres Serrano (American b. 1950) Child Abuse [1996] Dye-bleach print, colored; 51x61cm ICA purchase through the Gallery Committee and a Patrons of Art gift, October 1997
Gerald Cyrus (American b. 1957) Lovers and others, St. Nick’s Pub, Harlem, NYC [1995] Gelatin silver print, black and white; 33x23cm Gerald Cyrus purchase, November 2007
Milton G. Hinton American (1910-2000) Billie Holiday: “But not for me” recording studio, N.Y.C. [1958, 1982] Gelatin silver print, black and white; 28x36cm Milt Hinton purchase through William E. Williams, November 1991
Andres Serrano (American b. 1950) Istanbul [Sisters] [S. Stern] [1996, 1999] Palladium platinum print, black and white; 30x25cm LightWorks Syracuse purchase through the Presidential Discretionary Fund, December 1999
Cornelius M. Battey (American 1873-1927) Booker T. Washington [ca.1910] Silver print, sepiatoned; oval image 25x20cm on sheet 30x25cm Baltimore Book Company purchase, April 1997
