Latoya Ruby Frazier

I have to tell my story because it hasn’t been told. I’m a human being and my life has value and I refuse to be erased. ~ Latoya Ruby Frazier

I admire the way Latoya Ruby Frazier uses her camera as a tool for social documentation. Her choices in portraiture and video reveals a very intimate and personal history of Latoya.  Her series, A Haunted Capital is her specific story, yet the portrayal of family and mother/daughter relationship is familiar.  The specificity in her narrative speaks to the universal themes of race, gender, and class her work addresses.

Here is an insightful interview with Latoya in American Art Magazine.

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“To Be Black in Pittsburgh:”A Few Photos from Teenie Harris - 2 photos »

One Shot Teenie: A Retrospective of Charles Harris

Charles “Teenie” Harris rarely took more than one shot of his subjects. Somehow he had the magic eye of capturing beauty, depth, emotion, and familiarity in a single shot. His images of daily life in Pittsburgh documents an era that is worth remembering.

Kara Walker is a visual artist most known for her life-sized silhouettes of characters that examine America’s history of race and gender. Her work tells the stories of historic characters that seem to come straight out of an antebellum novel. Of course, this is Kara’s intention. Her images display the exchanges of power among racial and gender lines.

The Door: A Pathway to Ourselves

Fashion company Miu Miu collaborated with female filmmakers to create different narratives about feminine bonds and of course, fashion, in the Women’s Tale. I am drawn to Ava DuVernay’s short film, The Door, because of the symbolic meaning of transformation. The protagonist in the film, played by the beautiful Gabrielle Union, is in the need for renewal after an emotional heartbreak. Ava frames Gabrielle’s transformation through the use of her front door and the help of her friend. “In the film, characters arrive at the door of a friend in need, bringing something of themselves,” explains director DuVernay. “Eventually, we witness our heroine ready to walk through the door on her own. The door in the film represents a pathway to who we are.”