African American Large Format Photographers

[jim6]

Does anyone know of contemporary African American large format photographers?

I have a deep appreciation for the originality, sensitivity, expression and emotion often conveyed by African American�s, regardless of their art form.

 

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Thank you,

[sandy_sorlien]

Ron Tarver, Philadelphia. He's a staff photographer for the Phila

Inquirer, but his personal work is 4x5, uses Type 55 Polaroid film and

a printing technique which softens the image. He received a 2001 Pew

Fellowship. He has some lovely pictures of Havana, and urban

landscapes around Philadelphia.

 

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I think Don Camp (also Philadelphia) uses LF for his huge portraits,

but I'm not entirely sure.

[fred_de_van1]

There is a photographer who sat beside Ansel Adams of the Board of the

Ziff Davis Foundation, who is just as comfortable with an 8x10 Sinar

as he is with a Leica, Linhof or Hasselblad. Who is involved in the

building of of a LF camera, and whose whose published work, especially

in the early part of his career, is mostly done with large format.

 

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He will remain nameless because he rejects being identified as a Large

format or Afro American, photographer, since both are incidental to

his work. At one point he did accept an award from Langston

Hughes,(see: "Sweet Flypaper of Life" words by Langston Hughes,

photographs by Roy De Carrava), and that resulted in his being

identified as a prolific Afro American Photographer. The huge numbers

of published images were a result of the many TV guide covers he had

done. None of these photgraphs were remotely related to the reason he

was offered the award, so he somewhat ungratiously, declined the award

as being based on the absurd and that TV guide was not a measure of

anything he wished to be known for....

[mark_parsons1]

>>> "I have a deep appreciation for the originality, sensitivity,

expression and emotion often conveyed by African American�s,

regardless of their art form." <<<

 

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How about: "I have a deep appreciation for the originality,

sensitivity, expression and emotion often conveyed by Artists,

regardless of the melanin level in their skin."

 

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Best wishes,

[martin2]

Try checking out this site. They have a very interesting time line

outlining the history of photography from a Black perspective.

African American Photographers' Association

http://www.aapguild.org/

 

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BTW if anyone is interested in Native American LF

photographers I could supply you with a short list. I Mohawk so

thats one.

[amadou_diallo1]

I happen to be one. My web site is www.diallophotography.com

 

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Amadou Diallo

[ellis_vener_photography]

I know of one or two in the Houston area.

[ellis_vener_photography]

One of whom works closely with John Biggars (sp?) the

wonderful & powerful muralist

[jim6]

I just wanted to say thank you to Sandy for the information on Ron

Tarver. His images of Havana are great! Fred thanks to you for the

fascinating information on the gentleman who was on the Ziff Davis

Foundation board. Martin thanks for bringing the African American

Photographers' Association to my attention, I will be checking out

their site. Amadou my man! I was able to take a quick peek at your

site today and will be back soon. Nice work and nice site! I'll shoot

you an email... Ellis, thank you sir for bringing John Biggars to my

attention, I'll see if I can find a site that has some of his work.

 

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Jim

[dan_smith]

How about Irish American large format photographer? What kind of

feelings or images that are different from all others do they take?

Or maybe Mexican Americans, or Salvadoran Americans, or Samoan

Americans?

Is each small subgroup given a special type of image & feeling that

shows in their artwork or are you assigning this to them due to your

own feelings?

[sandy_sorlien]

Oh cut it out with the "we're all the same" refrain. I didn't see

anyone complaining when someone asked for examples of female LF

photographers. Don't judge Jim for asking the question; you don't know

why he asked it, other than he would like to see some work by black

photographers. I think we should all like to see MORE work by MORE

black and female photographers and any other "group" that has been

severely under-represented for the first 150 years of photography.

 

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I think it is very worthwhile to consider and examine the possibility

that sometimes different cultures and different historical experiences

and different hormones, for that matter, might produce different work

from the work of the "group" that has always been in power in this

country.

 

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If that turns out not to be the case for any given individual, you

will still have seen some work from someone you may not have known

about before, because they were not part of the "system."

[donald_brewster]

I don't know what format he worked in, but you can't overlook Gordon

Parks. The show that has been floating around the country over the

past few years was astounding.

[david l.]

Jim, There was a exhibit about a year ago at the Brooklyn Musuem of

Art- "Committed to the Image: Contempoary Black Photographers". I'm

not sure if any of the artists featured worked exclusively in Large

Format but I'm sure you could probably get some information from the

book that accompanied the show (same name as the show).

[fred_de_van]

Sandy:

 

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In Many ways you are very correct, and your point was the reason for

my prior post. Jim's post raises a thorny issue for the Photographer

who happens to be Black, as opposed the the Photographer whose focus

is on a stereotyped (unfortunately) segment of the Black experiance.

You have, we all have, seen quite a bit of work by Black Photographers

yet there were no reasons to identify them as Black, they are simply

and purely, Photographers. To have done so would have been rediculous,

since the content made that moot. It would be emminently crazy to

identify a bucolic, snow scene, of a red barn in

Vermont made by a Black Photographer as having anything to do with

skin color. Likewise, A portrait of the King of Spain, yet I can

assure you both have been done by Photographers of color.

 

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Once you say that you cannot ignore Gordon Parks, you create the real

cause than many very prolific photographers do not wish to be

identified as a Black Photographer. It closes doors. As Donald's post

points out, Gordon is know for his photography hyphenated by his

color. When the next equally hyphenated person comes along he finds

the door to access a bit less open, because there had been a Gordon

Parks show a few months ago. Been there, done that.

 

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While is wonderful to be recognised, for the artist/generalist

photographer, the lable and the hyphen can and does work against you.

For the Photographer who's work is derived from an immersion in a sub

culture, the hyphen is more than valid. There are far more hard

working, productive, creative, professional Photographers and Artists

(who may or may not be commercial in any way) who happen to have dark

skin producing images that you see everyday, than will ever be widely

known. The work is what matters. The photo editor of Horticulture

Magazine was a Black Female. In what way could this fact have effected

the content of what you saw? Her/my Friend, Mel Scott was the Picture

Editor at Life Magazine, and neither had any exposure to the world

that Gordon Parks knew and photographed.

 

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It is not a matter of "we are all the same", it is a matter, that

about 85% of the time etnicity, is not a valid distinction. For the

other 15%, I am on your side. Do we call Dorthia Lange a "poor

Photographer", she personally was far from poor. You would have been

struck hard on the head, had you ever called Margaret Burke White, a

"White Female shooter of big Dams and little Indians". Do we call

Walker Evans a caustic-surly-drunk-artist? (When you did he smiled and

growled, simultaniously) Roy De Carrava, who did that wonderful book

on a period in Harlem, also is a full Professor in NY, and was the

Dirctor of Photography at one of the Time Inc Magazines. Gordon Parks

on the other hand, is a Black Photographer, Black Film Director, Black

Composer and Black Author, and that is how he wants it. It has made

him a wealthy man. To each his own.

 

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There are 35 million Black people in this nation, and there are 35

million ways to be Black. One size does not fit all. This entire topic

is a wonderful illustration as to how this nation has continued to get

it all wrong. That is also the reason your post was very right.

[xx]

Here here, Fred! I agree. If you create great work, I want to see it,

if its crap I don't--what difference should it make as to what color/

sex the artist is?

[sandy_sorlien]

Fred has some good points, especially the one that being identified

black/Latino/female/whatever can be a drawback when exhibitions are

scheduled. But more often these days it's an advantage, as an implicit

or explicit "affirmative action of the arts" has been taking place in

many institutions. I'm all for that.

 

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I suppose there are many viewers of photography like Mark who do not

care anything about the person who made the picture. I am not one of

them. I believe that if you read about the photographer or hear her

lecture about her work or know something about her homeland or

culture, you can learn a lot more about photography and about the

image itself. If you apprehend a picture in a vacuum, your experience

of it is limited.

 

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The magazine Aperture occasionally publishes entire issues of

photographs by people of one country or culture. I have in my

collection such titles as: "Haiti: Feeding the Spirit," "British

Photography: Towards a Bigger Picture," "Ireland: A Troubled Mirror,"

"Immagini Italiane," "Strong Hearts: Native American Visions and

Voices," and many others about specific cultures. While there is

tremendous range and variety within each issue, it is fascinating to

see a collective portrait of a place or culture arise from seeing them

all together. It's a different experience from seeing each artist's

work individually, certainly much richer than seeing his work out of

context entirely, without knowing anything about him.

 

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Personally, I am proud to have participated in group shows for women

only, as well as shows by Philadelphians only or Pennsylvanians only.

But because my work is about place, it is more important for me to

identify my hometown in my artist's statements than it is for me to

identify as female. (I'm not hiding anything, but my name is neutral.)

If any individual does not think it's important to identify with a

larger group, I have no problem with their decision to minimize that

association. Nevertheless, critics, teachers, and historians will

inevitably discuss that work in a larger context; after all, that's

their job.

[xx]

Sandy, I never said that I didn't care anything about the person who

made the photograph. I simply said that the color of their skin makes

no difference whatsoever.

 

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color doesn't indicate life experiences. It seems to me that your

opinion is based on very stereotypical views.

 

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"affirmative action of the arts" what a horrible concept.

 

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Of course I'm sure that your responses would have been identical if

the original question stated that he was looking only for "white male"

photographers only! :)

[sandy_sorlien]

Hi Mark,

The implication of your last line is correct; if he had been looking

for white male photographers I would have just ignored the post,

thinking it was stupid, because probably 85% of photographers (and 95%

of LF photographers) represented in museum collections, books, and

magazines are white males. (This is my estimation based on 25 years in

the field and casual observation of the content of photo mags --

anyone have actual statistics?)

 

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You said you didn't care what color/sex someone is, yet you also say

you are interested in the person who took the picture. It doesn't

sound like you realize how much color/sex is an essential part of what

makes that person who s/he is. (As a person and a photographer.)

 

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We'll just have to disagree on affirmative action. I'm for it, because

young people of color and young women need role models in positions of

power and respect in order for the inequities of the past 400 years to

be addressed. Young artists of color and young women artists need the

same in their field. My female photography students are dying for

some mentors.

 

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Cheers,

[dan_smith]

Sandy wrote: "young people of color and young women need role models

in positions of power and respect in order for the inequities of the

past 400 years to be addressed".

 

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The continual dividing of people based on color is a waste of time.

To have shows celebrating diversity, culture or interest is fine. To

have them based on skin color is asinine.

 

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There is only one race, the human race. People everywhere photograph

an in any area populated by a specific color you will find the

majority of images in that area created by those people. Take good

images & promote them & you should do fine and the color or sex of

the photographer should not make any difference. I know for some it

will, that won't change as there are always some jackasses around. I

think most who look at fine images like the images no matter who

created them and the experience can only be enhanced by knowing

something about the artist. Whether Parks, Weston or Bourke-White,

the images speak to us because they are excellent not because we

choose to emphasize color, sex, religion, nationality or any other

division. (even LF, 35mm or pixelographs)

Like the individual or not, for whatever reason. There has to be more

to attract you to their work than artificial dividing lines. As long

as we have shows that emphasize divisions we will encourage the

attitude of acceptance based on the divisions.

The photographic image is what I see and hope to celebrate it no

matter who photographed it.

[jim6]

Dan, Fred and others who seem to have a difficult time with this... I

sense a great deal of anger and frustration on your behalf. You are

obviously having a very difficult time trying o rationalize and

justify your reasoning on what has turned into a race issue. I

suggest you go back and read my original post. I posed this

question "Does anyone know of contemporary African American large

format photographers? I have a deep appreciation for the originality,

sensitivity, expression and emotion often conveyed by African

American�s, regardless of the art form"

 

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Now, if I had asked if you felt (taking cultures into consideration)

African American photographers were any different, produced a

different style of work, or were denied access to opportunities as

compared to White or Chinese American photographers, then maybe you

could have gone off in the direction you did. But I did not. One

individual, who identifies himself as �Polar� attempted to correct me

and tell me how to rephrase the question. Well, at 50 years of age, I

don�t need Polar�s help in asking questions. I am quite able to think

and reason for myself.

Unfortunately and sadly, race still matters in America. All to often

an individual�s character and abilities are secondary to ones

ethnicity, or even gender for that matter.

Still more, in their own warped sense of security continue to seek,

or are receptive to the negative stereotypes of people from other

cultures, lifestyles or backgrounds only to reinforce a limited

ability to truly open their eyes and emotions to what is around them,

let alone think for themselves.

Again, I want to thank everyone for responding to my question.

 

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Regards,

 

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Jim

[jim6]

For anyone interested, I came across a wonderful site called

The "Chicago Alliance of African-American Photographers"

http://www.caaap.org/main.html Their journey project, in which they

document the Chicago African American community is the highlight!

 

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They even received recognition on Kodaks website as well

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/magazine/photography/2001_02/project.s

html in which they bring to light "the journey project"

 

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Regards,

 

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Jim

[larry_smith9]

"Our cultural revolution must be the means of bringing us closer to

our African brothers and sisters. It must begin in the community and

be based on community participation. Afro-American will be free to

create only when they can depend on the Afro-American community for

support and Afro-American artists must realize that they depend on

the Afro-Americans for inspiration."

 

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- Malcolm X

[xx]

good thing Malcom x was moving away from such racist statements

towards the end of his life.

[jonathan brewer]

'Cultural revolution',....'community',....'community

participation',......'support',....'inspiration', there is nothing in

the above statement that says anything about racism, refers to racism,

encourages racism.

 

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It may be a bit 'enthnocentric' for your tastes, but I think

we've established that by now.

[xx]

its amazing how blind you are....

 

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Depend on the afro american community......

 

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depend on afro americans for inspiration...

 

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your a blind fool, and thats been established also..