Recent Black Photographers.
originally published in PhotoPoint Magazine (now defunct), January 17, 2001.

Ó 2001 Carla Williams. All Rights Reserved.

Do the names Destiny Deacon, Renée Cox, Lyle Ashton Harris, Iké Udé, Lorna Simpson, Carrie Mae Weems, Dawoud Bey, Clarissa Sligh, Lynn Marshall Linnemeier, Willie Middlebrook, Carmin Karasic, Lorraine O'Grady, Joy Gregory, Roshini Kempadoo, Keba Konte, Sonia Boyce, Yinka Shonibare or Ajamu ring a bell? These artists are among the vanguard of contemporary black photographers working throughout the Diaspora. Hailing from Australia, England, Africa, and the United States, these contemporary black artists use photography to redefine the medium to expand our understanding of our common histories, experiences, and futures.

During the Black Arts movement of the 1970s many notable black photographic artists emerged; the photographer's group Kamoinge was founded in New York and Joe Crawford published the Black Photographer's Annual in 4 volumes throught the decade. The 1980s saw these artists and many younger ones build upon this foundation, emerge from graduate programs around the country and enter the art world mainstream. In London in 1988 artist Mark Sealy founded Autograph: The Association of Black Photographers, an influential organization which, through publications and exhibitions, has fostered the careers of many talented black photographers, including nearly all of those mentioned above. In the U.S. throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Deborah Willis' pioneering exhibitions and publications were instrumental in bringing the black photographic artist to the forefront. These significant forerunners have helped to nurture the broad base of talent that abounds today.

While many of these artists' works deal with their racial identity, they cannot be simply categorized based upon this commonality. Issues of class, gender, politics and history, as well as art history, folklore, and current events inform their works. Simpson and Weems are probably the best known of these artists; their extensive bodies of work incorporate all of the above and have been widely exhibited and published throughout the world. Deacon, a Torres-Strait Islander, uses dolls and self-portraits to address the Aboriginal experience in her native Australia. The English Boyce tackles the more personal politics of hair culture, music history and interracial relationships. Incorporating family photographs and histories, O'Grady, Sligh, and Limmemeier articulate the experience of the black woman in America. Cox, Harris, Middlebrook, and Ajamu create highly personal, largely figurative works using self-portraits. Bey is primarily a portraitist, interpreting his subjects with an exacting eye. Many of the artists work collaboratively; the American Harris has produced images with both the Nigerian Udé and the Jamaican-American Cox that explore issues of gender indentity, while the English Gregory and Nigerian Shonibare teamed up for the scathingly witty "Effnik" series. Amalia Amaki and Deborah Willis incorporate the photographic image with the tradition of quiltmaking. Among the younger emerging photographers Keba Konte, formerly an Oakland-based photographer who recently relocated to Europe, exhibits and publishes his densely layered, textural portraits and figure studies.

Kempadoo and Boyce have embraced new technologies, creating digitally-generated and web-based works as well as more traditional modes of presentation. Unlike many of the other artists mentioned, digital artist Karasic comes from a technical background. She uses her own photographs, friends' work, and stock images for her digital, largely web-based work. Expanding the boundaries, Karasic is also a "hacktivist"-an art activist who uses computer technology to stage protests and to make her message heard. The sheer diversity among the black photographic artists working today is the most exciting aspect of all as new avenues of communication become available for sharing their work with a broader audience.

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