Called to the camera : Black American studio photographers / Brian Piper with John Edwin Mason, Carla Williams, and Russell Lord ; foreword by Susan Taylor.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Piper, Brian (Art museum curator)

Mason, John Edwin.

Williams, Carla, 1965-

Lord, Russell.

Taylor, Susan M., writer of foreword.

New Orleans Museum of Art, issuing body, host institution.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African American portrait photographers--Exhibitions.

African American portrait photographers.

African Americans--Portraits--Exhibitions.

African Americans.

Portrait photography--United States--Exhibitions.

Portrait photography.

African American photographers--Exhibitions.

African American photographers.

Photography--United States--History--Exhibitions.

Photography.

African Americans in art--Exhibitions.

African Americans in art.

Black people in art--Exhibitions.

Black people in art.

Portrait photography--United States--History--Exhibitions.

History.

United States.

Genre:

Exhibition catalogs.

Photobooks.

exhibition catalogs.

photobooks.

History.

Physical Description:

226 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm

Other Title:

Black American studio photographers

Place of Publication:

[New Orleans] : New Orleans Museum of Art, [2023]

Summary:

"From photography's beginnings in the United States, Black studio photographers operated on the developing edge of popular media to produce affirming portraits for their clients, as well as a wide range of photographic work rooted in their communities. Called to the Camera offers a comprehensive history of this work, from the nineteenth-century daguerreotypes of James Presley Ball to the height of Black studios in the mid-twentieth century, and considers contemporary photographers responding to Black studio traditions today. In addition to showcasing famous photographers such as Ball, James Van Der Zee, and Addison Scurlock, this volume brings attention to dozens of other artists across the country, including Florestine Perrault Collins, Austin Hansen, and Henry Clay Anderson. The book features more than one hundred extraordinary vintage photographs, many of them unique objects and some, like those by the Hooks Brothers Studio, published here for the first time. Highlighting Black subjects on both sides of the camera, Called to the Camera presents a broader and more inclusive history of photography."-- Source other than Library of Congress.

From photography's beginnings in the United States, Black studio photographers operated on the developing edge of popular media to produce affirming portraits for their clients, as well as a wide range of photographic work rooted in their communities. Called to the Camera offers a comprehensive history of this work, from the nineteenth-century daguerreotypes of James Presley Ball to the height of Black studios in the mid-twentieth century, and considers contemporary photographers responding to Black studio traditions today. In addition to showcasing famous photographers such as Ball, James Van Der Zee, and Addison Scurlock, this volume brings attention to dozens of other artists across the country, including Florestine Perrault Collins, Austin Hansen, and Henry Clay Anderson. The book features more than one hundred extraordinary vintage photographs, many of them unique objects and some, like those by the Hooks Brothers Studio, published here for the first time. Highlighting Black subjects on both sides of the camera, Called to the Camera presents a broader and more inclusive history of photography.

Contents:

Director's foreword / Susan M. Taylor

Introduction / Russell Lord

"Where there's beauty we take it, and where there's none we can make it:" the work of Black American photography studios / Brian Piper

Nobody's "faithful servant:" Henry Martin represents himself / John Edwin Mason

The art of seeing as being seen / Carla Williams

Plates. Foundations

The portraits

Inside the studio

Beyond the studio

Reflections and refractions.

The art of seeing as being seen / Carla Williams.

Notes:

Includes work by: Alanna Airitam, Thomas E. Askew, Walter Baker's Studio, James Presley Ball, Ball & Thomas Photographers (Thomas C. Ball and Alexander S. Thomas), J.P. Ball & Son (James Presley Ball and James Presley Ball, Jr., Estelle V. Ball), Cornelius M Battey, Endia Beal, Arthur P. Bedou, Kwame Brathwaite, Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Leon W. Brown, The Browns (George O. Brown, Bessie Gwendolyn Brown, George W. Brown), Allen E. Cole, Florestine Perrault Collins, Roy DeCarava, Edward Elcha, James C. Farley (Richmond Photograph Co.), Daniel Freeman, William P. Greene, The Goodridge Brothers (Glenalvin Goodridge, Wallace L. Goodridge, William O. Goodridge), Francis Grice, Austin Hansen, Hooks Brothers Studio (Henry A. Hooks, Robert B. Hooks, Henry A. Hooks, Jr., and Charles J. Hooks), Harvey C. Jackson, William H. Jordan, Emmanuel F. Joseph, Arthur L. Macbeth, Nolan A. Marshall Studio (Nolan A. Marshall, Sr., Nolan A. Marshall, Jr.), William C. Maxwell, Edgar W. Moorer, John W. Mosley, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Gordon Parks, Villard Paddio, Perrault's Studio (Arthur J. Perrault), Prentice H. Polk, Paul Poole, Roberts Studio (Richard Samuel Roberts and Wilhelmina Pearl Selena Williams Roberts), Addison Scurlock, Robert Scurlock, Morgan and Marvin Smith Studio (Morgan Smith and Marvin Smith), Tiffany Smith, The Teal Studio (A.C. Teal, Elnora Teal), Selwhyn Sthaddeus "Polo Silk" Terrell, Alexander S. Thomas, Aaron Turner, James Van Der Zee, Augustus Washington, Eric Waters, Ernest C. Withers, and Woodard's Studio (started by William E. Woodard).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 218-221).

Local Notes:

Published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same title, held at New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, September 15, 2022-January 8, 2023.

Athenaeum copy: Longhi Fund bookplate.

ISBN:

9780300267389

030026738X

OCLC:

1379251049