Overview

Winner of the International Center for Photography's 1995 Award for Writing on Photography, Picturing Us brings together a diverse group of African American writers, scholars, and filmmakers in the first concerted effort to analyze and respond to the photographic images of blacks through history. The book's contributors-including bell hooks, E. Ethelbert Miller, Angela Davis, and others-examine the personal and public issues embedded in family portraits and news photographs, movie stills and mug shots.

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9781565841062

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Reviews

A rare book [that] encourages us to look deeply into images of ourselves and carefully select what we accept as truth. &#8212 Quarterly Black Review Eighteen stimulating essays. . . . A worthy dialogue on an under-analyzed aspect of black history. &#8212 Publishers Weekly The importance of this collection of photographs and accompanying essays. . . cannot be overemphasized. &#8212 Belles Lettres The photographs alone. . . merit a trip to the bookstore. . . . One feels prodded to contemplate the interconnectedness of African American identity and visual images in unconventional, enlightening ways. &#8212 Emerge

A rare book [that] encourages us to look deeply into images of ourselves and carefully select what we accept as truth. &#8212 Quarterly Black Review Eighteen stimulating essays. . . . A worthy dialogue on an under-analyzed aspect of black history. &#8212 Publishers Weekly The importance of this collection of photographs and accompanying essays. . . cannot be overemphasized. &#8212 Belles Lettres The photographs alone. . . merit a trip to the bookstore. . . . One feels prodded to contemplate the interconnectedness of African American identity and visual images in unconventional, enlightening ways. &#8212 Emerge

"""A rare book [that] encourages us to look deeply into images of ourselves and carefully select what we accept as truth."" —Quarterly Black Review ""Eighteen stimulating essays. . . . A worthy dialogue on an under-analyzed aspect of black history."" —Publishers Weekly ""The importance of this collection of photographs and accompanying essays. . . cannot be overemphasized."" —Belles Lettres ""The photographs alone. . . merit a trip to the bookstore. . . . One feels prodded to contemplate the interconnectedness of African American identity and visual images in unconventional, enlightening ways."" — Emerge"

""A rare book [that] encourages us to look deeply into images of ourselves and carefully select what we accept as truth."" —Quarterly Black Review ""Eighteen stimulating essays. . . . A worthy dialogue on an under-analyzed aspect of black history."" —Publishers Weekly ""The importance of this collection of photographs and accompanying essays. . . cannot be overemphasized."" —Belles Lettres ""The photographs alone. . . merit a trip to the bookstore. . . . One feels prodded to contemplate the interconnectedness of African American identity and visual images in unconventional, enlightening ways."" — Emerge

A provocative exploration of how African-Americans have, and more often have not, participated in the creation of their image through photographs. Merely to illuminate is Willis's (Black Photographs 1940 - 1988, not reviewed) stated purpose in this collection of essays. The contributors seek to direct outward the gaze that historically has been directed at them. Some of these pieces (each inspired by a photograph selected by the writer) are intimate and highly personal: Edward P. Jones concludes that, if he'd met his mother as the stylish young woman she was on the day she had her picture taken, he'd have advised her to choose a life without him and his father ( Save yourself, I would have told her ); Lise Hamilton examines her feelings of rejection by her white mother and grandmother. Addressing a variety of subjects - from the stereotypical portrayal of black men as criminals and black women as poverty-stricken mothers with too many children, to the hegemony of good hair - these pieces provide a historical base from which to view the depiction of African-Americans in today's media. The subjects of the photographs range from two lynched men and an ancestor labeled UN, UI, OW (one-quarter Negro, one-quarter Indian, one-half White), to a variety of family snapshots. The juxtaposition of these images and histories magnifies the close intertwining of family and cultural history. Moving beyond mere explanations of the photographs, these essays lead the reader to question assumptions about what is being seen, how images are created, and for whose consumption they are produced. Angela Davis documents her lack of agency over her image and explains that 25 years after her trial what she is remembered for is not her politics but her Afro (Vibe magazine recently ran a '70s nostalgic fashion spread that termed Davis a fashion revolutionary ). A startling, revealing look at photographic representation and its effect on African-American identity and consciousness. (Kirkus Reviews)

A rare book [that] encourages us to look deeply into images of ourselves and carefully select what we accept as truth. &#8212Quarterly Black Review Eighteen stimulating essays. . . . A worthy dialogue on an under-analyzed aspect of black history. &#8212Publishers Weekly The importance of this collection of photographs and accompanying essays. . . cannot be overemphasized. &#8212Belles Lettres The photographs alone. . . merit a trip to the bookstore. . . . One feels prodded to contemplate the interconnectedness of African American identity and visual images in unconventional, enlightening ways. &#8212 Emerge

Author Information

Deborah Willis is curator of exhibitions at the National African American Museum Project of the Smithsonian Institute. Her previous books include Early Black Photographers: 1840 to 1940 and VanDerZee: Photographer 18861983. She lives in Washington, D.C.

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