Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Lee, Zun
2. Hackett, Sophie, 1971-
3. Martin, Dawn Lundy
4. Harney, Stefano, 1962-
5. Moten, Fred
6. Art Gallery of Ontario, host institution, publisher.

Description

1. 191 pages : chiefly color illustrations, portraits; 24 cm

Summary

1. "Thoughtfully illustrated, this volume highlights a selection of photographs of African American family life between the 1970s and the early 2000s--pictures that were lost by their original owners and then found by the artist Zun Lee on a street in Detroit in 2012, marking the beginning of the Fade Resistance collection of more than 4,000 Polaroids. Lee describes the collection as an important record of Black visual self-representation and a means to "reflect the way Black people saw themselves on their terms--without the intention of being seen, or judged, by others." To Lee, these powerful photographs are an expression of "Black life mattering." These vivid images chronicle milestones such as weddings, birthdays and graduations, as well as quiet daily moments, offering contemporary views long ignored or erased by mainstream culture. Together, these works highlight the role snapshots have played in Black life, as tools to challenge stereotypical portrayals and as a means to memorialize family, culture and heritage. Topics such as self-representation, visual history and the social power of photographs are addressed in critical texts by Sophie Hackett, Stefano Harney, Zun Lee and Fred Moten, and an original contribution by celebrated poet Dawn Lundy Martin."--

Alternative title

1. Photographs of Black life

Subject

1. Art Gallery of Ontario > Photograph collections > Exhibitions
2. African Americans > Social life and customs > Pictorial works > Exhibitions
3. African American families > Pictorial works > Exhibitions
4. Vernacular photography > Exhibitions
5. Instant photography > Exhibitions
6. Noir américains > Moeurs et coutumes > Ouvrages illustrés > Expositions
7. Familles noires américaines > Ouvrages illustrés > Expositions
8. African American families
9. African Americans > Social life and customs

Genre/Form

1. Exhibition catalogs.
2. Exhibition, pictorial works.
3. Photobooks.

Contents

1. Director's foreword / Stephan Jost -- Black Aliveness in Flight / Dawn Lundy Martin -- Fade of the Black Family Photograph / Stefano Harney & Fred Moten -- What outlasts / Sophie Hackett -- A Whole Mess and a Half: The Matter of Most / Zun Lee -- List of works.

Owning institution

1. Columbia University Libraries

Note

1. Published on the occasion of the exhibition What Matters Most: Photographs of Black Life from the Fade Resistance Collection, organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario from August 27, 2022 to January 8, 2023.

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references.