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Mixed Statement, 1984
Juan Sanchez
American, b. 1954
_______________________
Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985
September 21, 2025 - January 11, 2026
The first exhibition to consider photography’s impact on a cultural and aesthetic movement that celebrated Black history, identity, and beauty.
Uniting around civil rights and freedom movements of the 1960s and 1970s, many visual artists, poets, playwrights, musicians, photographers, and filmmakers expressed hope and dignity through their art. These creative efforts became known as the Black Arts Movement.
Photography was central to the movement, attracting all kinds of artists—from street photographers and photojournalists to painters and graphic designers. This expansive exhibition presents 150 examples tracing the Black Arts Movement from its roots to its lingering impacts, from 1955 to 1985. Explore the bold vision shaped by generations of artists including Billy Abernathy, Romare Bearden, Kwame Brathwaite, Roy DeCarava, Doris Derby, Emory Douglas, Barkley Hendricks, Barbara McCullough, Betye Saar, and Ming Smith.
Poet Larry Neal, who coined the term Black Arts Movement, described it as “a cultural revolution in art and ideas.” This movement included poets, playwrights, musicians, filmmakers, photographers, and painters. They came together to make art that advanced civil rights and celebrated Black history, identity, and beauty.
This cultural revolution shook up the art world in the 1950s and ’60s. It embodied the struggle for self-determination championed by global freedom movements. New collectives, workshops, and collaborations emerged. Creatives made art that promoted Black dignity, hope, and freedom. They asked, how could art inspire social and political change? And what would it look like?
Photography was a driving force from the beginning, playing a critical role as both a communications tool and art form. Learn more about the movement and photography’s part in it—major themes in our exhibition Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985.
Our exhibition begins in 1955, more than a decade before Larry Neal named the Black Arts Movement. That year, several events—and photographs of those events—helped catalyze the civil rights movement.
In September, Jet magazine was one of several publications that printed open-casket photographs of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy from Chicago who was lynched in Mississippi. Those disturbing images were seen across the country, including by a woman in Montgomery, Alabama: Rosa Parks. That December, Parks sat in the front, “white only” section of a segregated bus. The driver demanded that she give up her seat to a white passenger. She refused. As she later recounted, Emmett Till was on her mind in that moment.
Parks, in turn, was photographed sitting at the front of the segregated bus. Those images, and others like them, brought widespread awareness to the struggles for equal rights. Organizations like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) encouraged photography of their marches, demonstrations, and acts of nonviolent civil disobedience. SNCC even taught some members to use a camera. Lifelong activist Maria Varela became a SNCC photographer after recognizing the need for more images of Black life to support the movement.
The beginning of the Black Arts Movement is often pinned to poet, playwright, and writer Amiri Baraka founding the Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood in 1965. Nikki Giovanni, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Audre Lorde were among the many writers and poets active in the movement. Some collaborated with visual artists, even forming collectives such as the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC) in Chicago.
OBAC writers, scholars, painters, and photographers collaborated to create the Wall of Respect community mural in 1967. It commemorated key figures in African American history, including W. E. B. Du Bois, Muhammad Ali, and Nina Simone. The mural was like a two-story collage that covered the facade of a building in the city’s South Side neighborhood. It incorporated paintings by several artists alongside mounted photographs by Roy Lewis and Darryl Cowherd. At the center was Amiri Baraka’s poem “SOS,” which opens, “Calling all black people.” The mural was demolished in 1972, but photographs by Roy Lewis and Robert Sengstacke continue to spread its message.
Music was an equally important part of the Black Arts Movement. Musicians John Coltrane and Sun Ra both performed at a fundraiser for Amiri Baraka’s Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School. Their experimental and expressive jazz inspired Black Arts Movement writers and artists.
In Coltrane at the Gate, photographer Adger Cowans depicted the saxophonist’s energy. Ming Smith captured the magic of a Sun Ra performance. For his homage to saxophonist Charlie Parker (who was commonly known as “Bird”), painter Raymond Saunders embraced the spontaneous spirit of jazz. Saunders collaged a newsprint photograph below the word “bird” written in a chalklike white script.
The Black Arts Movement celebrated the “beauty and goodness of being Black,” as Larry Neal put it. Photographer Kwame Brathwaite helped popularize the phrase “Black is beautiful.” Brathwaite was a pioneer of uplifting Black identity. He helped found groups that challenged conventional standards of beauty and celebrated African heritage. They organized fashion shows, created “Black is beautiful” products, and operated a photography studio.
In Untitled (Portrait, Reels as Necklace), Brathwaite adorned the model with a necklace made from film developing reels to “expose” her beauty. More than a decade later, Carla Williams created a self-portrait that echoed Brathwaite’s work. Showing herself in curlers, Williams challenged popular notions of beauty.
Small collectives of visual artists and photographers came together around the principles of the Black Arts Movement. In New York, the Kamoinge Workshop photography collective met regularly to critique each other’s work, debate photography’s purpose and aesthetics, and share tips. They created a space for their art by developing their own portfolios and exhibitions. The workshop also produced the groundbreaking Black Photographers Annual between 1973 and 1980.
A group of Chicago artists formed AfriCOBRA. The collective’s founders defined their own aesthetic principles, aimed at creating “images that jar the senses and cause movement” and “images designed for mass production.”
The Black Arts Movement made an impact beyond the United States. In Great Britain, Raphael Albert organized and photographed Black beauty pageants in London. James Barnor focused on style, migration, and Black city life in London and in Accra, Ghana. Horace Ové photographed the British Black Power Movement. He also captured scenes of the West African and West Indian communities in London, like his Walking Proud, Notting Hill Carnival.
Samuel Fosso opened his first photography studio in Bangui, Central African Republic, at age 13. After finishing with clients, Fosso would use his studio to experiment with self-portraits. He wore an array of costumes and adopted personas, often taking inspiration from the pictures of Black Americans he saw in magazines shared by American Peace Corps volunteers.
By the end of the 1970s, the literary arm of the Black Arts Movement had waned, but a new generation of artists and photographers carried on its spirit. Coming out of art school, photographers such as Carrie Mae Weems and Lorna Simpson explored more personal, metaphorical, and conceptual ideas.
In her Family Pictures and Stories series, Weems made her own family the subjects. The intimate photographs presented a counterargument to claims that many Black Americans faced poverty and struggle as a result of weak family structures. Weems paired the photographs with brief stories about each family member.
www.nga.gov/stories/articles/what-black-arts-movement-sev...
manpodcast.com/portfolio/no-725-photography-the-black-art...
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Premier David Eby has issued the following statement celebrating Christmas:
“Excitement is building throughout the province as families – including mine – make their final preparations for Christmas.
“Tomorrow, Christians will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. They will attend special church services, gather with loved ones and reflect on the Lord’s teachings of peace, love and service to others. It is these universal values that inspire people from a variety of backgrounds to get in the Christmas spirit.
“Throughout this holiday season, British Columbians are enjoying Christmas celebrations and giving back to their communities. I want to thank everyone who has stepped up to make it a merry Christmas for others, whether you sponsored a family in need, volunteered at a community kitchen or donated to a Christmas hamper, toy drive or food bank. This generosity is at the heart of Christianity – and at the heart of Christmas.
Read more: news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2024PREM0070-001625
I think people may be starting to get annoyed with these comments. But wait, I JUST realized, that people would see this photo when they just visit my nice flikr site, so they are just getting a taste, or a sampling of these lengthy comments.
Anyways, Adam. I think this is the beginning of a possible career in ebonics for the masses.
[caption by Ellen]
Doorstep statement by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Defence Ministers’ format
Mark Littlewood, Director General (Institute of Economic Affairs) & Will Hutton (Chair, The Big Innovation Centre)
Statement-Ohrringe, ob es sich um goldene Kronleuchter, übergroße Perlen-Nieten oder eine Anhäufung von juwelenbesetzten Diamanten handelt, können Ihre einfachen Outfits schmücken. Aber wenn der Fokus deines Outfits auf den riesigen Juwelen liegt, die von deinen Ohren hängen, kommst du in &#...
coolideen.com/2018/06/09/5-regeln-fur-das-tragen-von-stat...
Note-Grids are a tool for collecting and connecting objects of thought (in this case, words).
They treat words and other manifestations of thought as objects that can be freely manipulated to create new meaning.
They break meaning up into individual words to facilitate a more fluid, intuitive, and improvisational approach to knowledge production.
Follow Note Grids on tumblr: notegrids.tumblr.com/
To read some direct statements about these ideas, see "Note-Grids: Statements" www.flickr.com/photos/asgood/sets/72157626654002747/
To see lots of words and patterns you can use to remix meaning, see "Note-Grids: Scores"
www.flickr.com/photos/asgood/sets/72157626782923062/
To see where this might be going, see "Note-Grids: Directions"
Managing the cash flow statement preparation is more important in business than ever. The financial expert at GLG Accounting helps to figure this out. Get Your Free Consultation Today. So You Can Have Us Handle the Cash Flow Statement Preparation.
The Xhurch's 'Christmas Nativity' took place on December 23rd, 2010, between the hours of 5 and 8pm, at the Xhurch, in Portland, OR.
The Xhurch is a small repurposed church in Portland, OR that has been remade into a home studio/gallery/event space.
Read about the nativity at GOD, LLC (my blog).
Costume Design: Jana Cox
Animal Design: Lauren Carter
Manger: Patrick Morris
Directed by Matt Henderson
This is a screen shot of the tags people posted for me (and a few I posted for myself) on last.fm. I think this is a good summary of my musical path.
@ St Catherine's Wynd, Aberdeen.
Was out for a walk today and saw the wall of statements posters were up already. Officially opens on Tuesday. You'd defiantly need to go and have a look at them in person.
It's a long time since i posted something and i apologize for that:-) I've just started uni again and a lot is happening! hopefully i will have more time to post from now on
"Our climate is (not) your business"
An entrepreneur needs a clerk who can prepare financial statements for the company. He should possess these skills; computer skills, detail-oriented, integrity, and math skills.
Making every Delhi stare worth. Designer onyx gold indowestern neck statement never goes out of style. Buy online from www.sunyaaranjewels.com/products/onyx-gold-indowestern-ne... if you are in and around. Own the beauty of the glint.
This is a basic outline of my approach and my motivations. The main point here is that I love both planning and design, and through my work want to blur the line between the two.
Fujica AX-3 | X-FUJINON 55mm 1:1.6 | ILFORD XP2S 400
Scanned with NORITSU KOKI EZ Controller
Lab developed in | C-41 B&W
Make a Statement: Design for the Cure
Photographer: Cristopher Beltran
Oct 21 2010
River East Art Center - 435 East Illinois Street, Chicago, IL 60611
Thank you to Conrad Castelo for getting me there! Asha Spacek and UR Supermodels you are wonderful!
We walked a good distance down the beach, then turned around as the sun neared the horizon and walked back toward the campground path. We passed the horses and found a place at the edge of the surf to watch the waves for a while. The horses ignored us.
And then they didn't. They stood together by the dunes maybe 300 feet away for a long while, then started walking toward us. Straight toward us. They didn't walk quickly. It was an ambling pace, but it was dinfintely right toward us. When they got about 50 feet away, we decided they weren't going around and got up and moved toward the path, out of their way.
The horses kept moving toward where we'd been sitting, and I got this picture, which was blurry because the sun had set and the light was fading quickly. The horses stopped when they reached the spot where we had sat. They paused for a long, tense moment. And then they raised their tails and let loose where we had reclined.
The definition of communication is a statement made and received. We got the message. We have communicated with wild horses. They told us this was their beach.
@ the new bus station, Aberdeen.
Was out for a walk today and saw the wall of statements posters were up already. Officially opens on Tuesday. You'd defiantly need to go and have a look at them in person.
Make your own fashion statement. I'm all about making a statement. If you have time, I highly recommend creating some Wilshire Warrior Rompers for the coaching staff and GMs. The Hawaiian team coaches wore sarongs and gave out pooka beads after games. Other teams did something similar based on where they were from. Also, the team should get involved as well. Since we are from California, you should have them meditate on the field instead of warming up. LOL. I had to throw in my sense of humor on this.
Bib statement necklace featuring five handmade navy blue silk roses with scattered faux pearls and crystals in burgundy, gold and rose colours. Finished with a gold satin ribbon.
The bib measures 3" in length and is 5.5" in width. The ribbon is 27" on each side and can be tied as you like to achieve the desired length.
The residents all got a kick out of Mercy's outfits this weekend. I explained that the shirts were to cover her incision, but most of them thought she should continue to wear them even after she's healed :))
Note-Grids are a tool for collecting and connecting objects of thought (in this case, words).
They treat words and other manifestations of thought as objects that can be freely manipulated to create new meaning.
They break meaning up into individual words to facilitate a more fluid, intuitive, and improvisational approach to knowledge production.
Follow Note Grids on tumblr: notegrids.tumblr.com/
To read some direct statements about these ideas, see "Note-Grids: Statements" www.flickr.com/photos/asgood/sets/72157626654002747/
To see lots of words and patterns you can use to remix meaning, see "Note-Grids: Scores"
www.flickr.com/photos/asgood/sets/72157626782923062/
To see where this might be going, see "Note-Grids: Directions"