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Title: Picturing Us: African American Identity in Photography by Deborah Willis-Thomas, Deborah Willis ISBN: 1-56584-106-9 Publisher: New Press Pub. Date: May, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: When Truth Is Found In Our Own Backyard
Comment: Here's a book of essays that not only reminds us of the dignity to be found in our history as African-Americans, but shows us where to look for them. No longer are we limited to searching for our "roots" through the eyes of "other"; no longer do we have to find "Self" through the acknowledgement of those who have only managed a glimpse at the rich heritage that is African-Americanism. There is something wonderful happening with the emergence of these texts. We are finally learning to love ourselves, which has been the one ingredient lacking in our search for self-worth. This book is a must-read for African-Americans who have yet to learn that our uniqueness is a product of our upbringing, our families and their values and traditions. We are not lost between the pages of some historical text that suggest we are the "disenfranchised." We can finally see ourselves as we truly are - proud and honorable contributors to this nation, complete with a historical and familial past that go beyond the traditional references normally attributed to us. This book is a truly informative edition to any collection.
Rating: 5
Summary: Powerful and personal images
Comment: Dr. Willis has done something terrific here. She begins assertively and positively, naming a central problem: the depiction of black "otherness" in historical photographic representation. She loves photography, a medium that has "given me the opportunity to walk through history." She believes in photography - and her understanding of the medium's power and her ability to teach it to maximum effect are at the heart of this successful book.
Eighteen contemporary African American artists, writers, poets, professors, and critics contributed essays. As a jumping-off point, the contributors begin with a photograph of their choosing. There are around fifty photos in this book, one image often leading to another.
In some cases, the stories are easier to come by than the photos. Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor writes, "If family stories were photographs, I'd need a small museum to house them, but a shoebox could house all the photos I have of my family." Her amazing grandmother gazes forthrightly at the photographer, but it's the remarkable family stories that are left.
Big themes challenge the reader. Family histories, objective and subjective views of African American culture, suffering and diaspora are, not surprisingly, woven through many of these essays. Some of the photos are well-known; others, not. Contributors chose family photos, and others present personally experienced public images. Robert A. Hill writes on Marcus Garvey, mentioning that through the 1920s there was a huge and important annual parade in Harlem - in which a contemporary newspaper reported that "fifty thousand Negroes of all ranks and stations in life and from every part of the globe - there were princes, high officials of various governments, [...] were in the line of march." (p. 190). Angela Davis regards her own image on 1970 "Wanted" poster. There are daguerreotypes, news photography, and portraiture. In some cases, the absence of photos - and of visual evidence - is the compelling theme.
St. Clair Bourne analyzes African American images in film, including the (cinematic) birth of stereotypes. A gorgeous and confident man exuding "carefree masculine identity," bell hooks' young father before he became a father, is the introductory image in her absorbing essay. E. Ethelbert Miller's "In My Father's House There Were No Images," is sad and disturbing. Disarmingly, he writes, "When you are the baby of the family, seldom do you know what is going on around you," and then proceeds to show that he knew very, very much. His story is compassionate, brilliant and wise. Carla Williams' "The Erotic Image is Naked and Dark," begins with a French daguerreotype from the 1850's in order to discuss physicality and representations of sexuality. Jacquie Jones writes about a photo of a 1930's lynching that as an eleventh grader she spotted in her (integrated) high school textbook "reproduced carelessly in the tome, added as an afterthought to whatever the text was (...)" recording for us the awful moment in which she, in fact, understood the 'banality of evil.' The image, she guesses, was not so unsettling to the white world - and, worse, that the spectators in the photo were, in all likelihood, still very much alive. Jones' deconstruction of her experiences of "intense, personal racism" is at the heart of her essay.
There are contributors' notes at the end, and detailed captions for each photograph. A great and beautiful book.
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Title: Vanderzee by Deborah Willis-Braithwaite ISBN: 0810927829 Publisher: Harry N. Abrams Pub. Date: 01 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present by Deborah Willis, Robin D. G. Kelley ISBN: 0393048802 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: June, 2000 List Price(USD): $50.00 |
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Title: Black Beauty: A History and a Celebration by Ben Arogundade ISBN: 156025341X Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press Pub. Date: 10 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: Black : A Celebration of a Culture by Deborah Willis ISBN: 1592580513 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 31 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: Colored Pictures: Race and Visual Representation by Michael D. Harris, Moyo Okediji ISBN: 0807827606 Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Pub. Date: 28 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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