Black Photographers Book Reviews

Taking a Break

Carla — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:53:21 +0000

Site visitors will probably notice that I haven’t updated here frequently. I am taking a break from my site(s) for at least the summer. I’ve been working in this field for 25 years and I’m burned out on photography and art, the site(s) are in need of major updates/ revamping/ retooling, social media is exhausting, and I need some time to figure out how or if I want to continue with it. If you’re looking for information about artists/photography and publishing, I recommend the links I have listed on this page at right.

A New Mission for Aperture?

Carla — Mon, 16 May 2011 04:50:32 +0000

Mambu Badu’s Inaugural Magazine

Carla — Mon, 02 May 2011 01:54:50 +0000

Danielle was briefly a contributor to this site; I am very excited to hear about her latest venture, the collective and now journal Mambu Badu “that seek to find, expose, and nurture emerging female photographers of African descent.” Congrats, Danielle!

As you may (or may not) know, last fall, I co-founded Mambu Badu, a photography collective for women photographers of African descent with fellow 20-something artists Allison McDaniel and Kameelah Rasheed. We wanted to create a space to find, expose and nurture black women artists because we saw a need no one else was filling. And so we filled it.

After publishing a call for work around the theme of Memory and reviewing submissions, after many hours spent with InDesign and several cups of coffee, we have launched an interactive PDF magazine to showcase the work of six incredible artists: Yodith Dammlash, Jennifer N. Everett, Nikita Gale, Nkechi Ebubedike, Sheree Swann, and Tonika Johnson.

We are also in the planning stages of a gallery exhibit this summer. Visit www.mambubadu.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date on the latest Mambu Badu news.

Please feel free to forward this to your friends and thanks for your support!

Peace,
Danielle
–
Danielle Scruggs
www.daniellescruggs.com // www.mambubadu.com

Carrie Mae Weems: Social Studies (Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, 2010)

Carla — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 03:53:07 +0000

Carrie Mae Weems: Social Studies. Essays by Elvira Dyangani Ose, Annie E. Coombes, and Greg Tate. Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, 2010, 218 pages, 60 duotone reproductions, 24 cm, ISBN 978-84-8266-998-4.

The book Carrie Mae Weems: Social Studies represents a comprehensive look at the artist’s career over the past thirty years. As Carrie Mae Weems describes, “During the past twenty-five years, I have worked toward developing a complex body of art that has at various times employed photographs, text, fabric, audio, digital images, installation, and, most recently, video. My work has led me to investigate family relationships, gender roles, the histories of racism, sexism, class, and various political systems. Despite the variety of my explorations, throughout it all it has been my contention that my responsibility as an artist is to work, to sing for my supper, to make art, beautiful and powerful, that adds and reveals; to beautify the mess of a messy world, to heal the sick and feed the helpless; to shout bravely from the roof-tops and storm barricaded doors and voice the specifics of our historic moment.”

Contact Sheet 161: Jeffrey Henson Scales (Light Work, 2011)

Carla — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 03:44:44 +0000

Contact Sheet 161: Jeffrey Henson Scales, Light Work, 2011, exhibition catalogue, 48 pages, $12.00.

If you go to Light Work’s page and join the mailing list you can preview the catalogue online.