Portraits:

Dawoud Bey
Wendy Ewald

July 20 - Sept. 7, 1997

Johnson CountyCommunityCollege • Galleryof Art

Revelations and Disclosures:
The Photographic Projects of
Dawoud Bey and Wendy Ewald
The two distinctive and remarkable projects
brought together in this exhibit - Dawoud
Bey's 20" x 24" Polaroid studio portraits and
the black-and -white works by Wendy Ewald
and her young students - differ enormously
in their styles, their methodologies and their
formal properties. Yet, in terms of their
content, they have much in common - and ,
to a considerable extent, spring from related
motives and a shared set of ideas and beliefs.
We have today in photography a vital,
ongoing debate concerning the authenticity ,
value and politics of representation that
emerges from within a particu lar community
or culture versus representation that's
generated - and, too often , authorized and
imposed - from without. Though I believe its
origins can be traced directly to discussions
that began in tl1e late 1960s conceming
photography by and of African-Americans,
this debate is nowadays not restricted to that
specific issue, nor even to image1y more
broad ly involving peop le of color. It is,
appropriately , a challenge to the fundamental
misconception tl1at photography itself can be
considered a value-free , transparent medium , Dawoud Bey, Earl, 1996, Polacolor ER photographs , 60" x 69",courtesy David Beitzel Galle1y, New York
and that its presumed neutrality somehow
transfers itself to those who employ some photographer. Consequently, we have by court portraits of European royalty.
combination of tl1e tools, materials and now several decades ' wotth of active investi- As images, these po1traits are necessarily
processes that compr ise this technology. gation of these possibilities, exemplified by made in the studio; this camera is not trans-
From its inception and ever since , the two projects whose results are swveyed portable and is almost impossible to operate
photography has been used by tl1e members here . out-of-doors. Hence all environmental data
of all cultures into which its practice has is eliminated. Ratl1er than replacing tl1at witl1
been introduced as a medium for cultural Consider, in this light, the color ponraiture props or elaborate settings , as do so many
self-description. Yet, until the 1970s, the of Dawoud Bey. Bey has chosen in recent who've used this camera system , Bey restricts
image1y of tl1e world 's many cultures that years to work with Polaroid materials and himself to his subjects and whatever they
predominated in the mass media of the "first tools tl1at add significant elements to the reveal and disclose tl1rough body language ,
world " (which, of course, permeates the traditional genr e of transactional studio facial expression , clothing and personal
entire globe) was made, almost invariably, portraiture. After exposure and the usual ornament. A rich but altogetl1er unpedantic
by Caucasian photographers of European minute's wait, Polaroid 20" x 24" film - like sociology results from this method of inquiry,
descent, ratl1er than by members of the com- its much smaller older sibling , the more which creates a self-presentational context
munities under scrutiny. However marvelous familiar SX-70 - provides a negativeless , tl1at's the photographic version of what tl1e
tl1e resulting image1y, and however well- direct-positive one-of-a-kind print , analogous late Erving Goffman called "tl1e theatrical
intended towards , knowledgeable about and to a DaguetTeotype. Unlike standard film, frame."
sympatl1etic to its subjects their makers may this process permits both photographer and This methodo logy premises itself on trust;
have become , these obse1vations lacked tl1e subject to view and evaluate the results it requires tl1e photographer 's willingness to
insight and attunement to cultural specifics immediately , and in dialogue. Says Bey, share the power of representation, so that his
and nuances that only full membership "It makes for a more balanced relationship. " interpretation of the subjects finds a counter-
brings. They also emblematized an unh ealthy o otl1er photographi c system is capable balance in tl1e subjects ' vision of themselves.
and largely unexamined concentration of of such minute description of such a wealth There is nothing casual about these pictures ,
power over the depiction of others. of detail. Their color adds yet another layer and nothing surreptitious; those who have
Fortunately, by the 1960s we already had of important data to these pictures ' function. chosen to accept Bey's scrutiny , and ours,
several in1portant examples of long-tem1 And their size achieves just the opposite of compose tl1emselves willingly for these por-
attention to cultures from within (the lifetime tl1e jewel-like Daguerreotype 's effect: rather traits, presenting themselves self-consciously
project of Roy DeCarava stands as only one tl1an miniaturizing their subjects , it monu- to the light and the lens , returning tl1e gaze .
notable instance). Those effo1ts - in tl1eir mentalizes them - especially when , in many The portrayals here emerge as much from
obvious value , as well as in their compara- cases , Bey maximizes the scale of tl1ese tl1eir deliberate choice as from Bey's
tive infrequency - served to spark in a works by combining two or more 20" x 24" perceptiveness.
younger cohort both the debate referred to prints to describe his subjects. The dimen- "I am mindful tl1at portraiture has been
above and a sudden, dramatic increase in sions of tl1e consequent pieces , and the a way for a select group of people - the
experiments intended to rectify some of the density of description emb edded in them , gentrified class - to perpetuate tl1eir [own]
entrenched in1balances between subject and make tl1em equivalent to the Renaissance images ," Bey wrote awhile back. "Museums
all over the world are filled with portraits
that moneyed people were able to commis-
sion of themselves ... I like to bring the
same attention to ordinary people ... and I
particularly like to give this attention to black
people, as a people whose in1ages have
been stereotyped and ridiculed extensive ly
in this country ... My photographs allow the
subjects to direct their unflinching gaze at
the viewer, if only in facsimile." Needless to
say, they also permit Bey to direct his ow n
unflinching gaze at them.
To fill the walls of a quasi-sacral space
such as a galle1y or museum with such
collaborative representations of those the
dominant culture spends such effort to
marginalize and "disappear, " revealing them
life-size or larger to the viewer for careful
scrutiny, allowing them (even "if only in fac-
simile") to initiate and return that prolonged
gaze, is a form of understated empowerment
of the subjects and - in the deepest sense of
the word - an enco urageme nt of the viewer.
It proposes that such an encounter has
mutually beneficial consequences, and that
the logical next step - engag ing with each
other face to face, in the flesh - contains
nothing to fear on either side so long as
those involved are willing to see each other
as fully human and take each other seriously.
That such equa lizing introductions still
need to be made may be reason for sorrow;
but that someone like Bey is both eager
and able to effect them, and that Bey's
Janet Stallard, I took a picture ofmyseif with the statue in the backyard, Kentucky, 1977,
collaborators remain willing to risk taking silver ge latin print, 8" x 10", courtesy James Danziger Gallery, New York
the initiative, is sure ly cause for hope.

For more than a centwy now , cameras

and many of the photographic processes
have been available to children . For at least
the past three decades , assorted photogra-
phers and educators have actively explored
what children could accomplish in this
medium and what we cou ld learn - about
children, about the worlds they inhabit ,
about photography itself - from their efforts.
Wendy Ewald's exempla 1y efforts over the
past two decades need to be und erstood
in that context; but they also demand to
be acknow ledged as one of the earliest
conunenced of these teaching ventures,
and by now probably the longest-running
of them all.
Technica lly speaking, this is bare-bones
photography, made with cheap Instamatic
cameras coupled with black-and-white film.
Yet the results resonate in a space rich with
intimacy and ripe with dreams , somewhere
between the quotidian revelations of the
family album and the more deliberated,
imaginative works of such contemporary
figures as Enunet Gowin, Nancy Rexroth,
Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Duane Michals:
photographers who have combined the
Freddy Childers, Seif-po11raitwith the picture of my biggest brothe1; Everett, who killed himself when he
consistent add ress to issues of persona l and came back from Vietnam, Kentucky, 1976 , silver gelatin print, 9!h" x 11'W', cowtesy Jam es Danziger
even private life with an economy of means Galle1y, New York
 partn ers in mese experiments continu e tl1ei..r
involvement in me medium as tl1ei.rlives
evolve, their relation to me world of lens-
based visual conm1unication has been
altered drastically by tl1ei..rencount er witl1 tl1e
basic too l on which all me visual mass media
are predicated . And mey, in turn , have subtly
but inexo rably shifted the ways in which
tl1ey and tl1eir cultures are to be und erstoo d.
In me long run , me effects of mis
complex dialogue cannot help but benefit
all concerned. And me immediate results -
tl1e perceptive, emotional, frank and un self-
conscious disclosures and revelations
contain ed in these image-text works, the
intricate pleasures tl1ey offer to me eye and
heart at once - constitute an invaluable gift
to the present and tl1e future.

Witl1out tl1e exte nded and often lifetime

commitment of several generations of devoted
ph otograph ers of all races, etl1nic origins and
Dawo ud Bey, Nikki & Man ting, 1992, Polaco lor ER photograph s, 30" x 46", cou1tesy David Beitzel Galle1y , persuasions who believed in tl1e possibilities
New York
of emp owe rment tl1rough ph otograph y, me
and quietly eloquent styles. into tl1e forms of books and exhibitions. (A argum ent ove r how tl1e diverse experiences
I wo uld like to believe tl1at tl1e attention selection was includ ed in tl1e 1997 Biennial and cultural realities of any identifiable
and recog nition that Ewald's projects have of me Whitney Museum of American Art .) group of peo ple are to be represe nted in
attracted of late not only pay tribute to What pul ses throu gh consistently in me photograph s - and who gets to do the
her dedication and tl1e sub stance of her products of this process is the exub erant representing - wo uld be strictly moo t.
endeavo rs but also represent an expandin g spontaneity of young peo ple given tl1eir first The sheer force and dur ability of tl1e best
aware ness of the visual intelligence of chil- opp ortunity for the visual interpretation of of tl1e wo rk mese photograph ers have pro-
dren , tl1eir individual and collective genius. tl1ei..rown lives. What Ewald and her stud ents du ced tl1emselves and encouraged in otl1ers
For tl1e cumul ative evidence leads inexora bly achieve is a turnin g of the tables, whereby - as exe mplified by tl1e projects of Dawo ud
to me conclusion tl1at clear-sightedn ess and children seize image-making powe r and Bey and Wendy Ewald - has helped to
its creative expression are capacities inherent beco me autonomous. As Ewald herself says, provoke a crucial, long-overdue discussion
in most if not all of us at an early age, "It's one of tl1e few situations in a child 's life tl1at reaches far beyo nd tl1e bound aries of a1t
regardless of nationality, race or class . when they can control what's around tl1em, discourse, into all me obse1va tional disci-
Indeed , it suggests tl1at tl1ese potentialities pa1ticularly adults." plines and metl1ods of cultural inqui1y:
are commo npl ace birmrights, whose com- This exe mplifies, in my opinion, what sociology, antl1.rop ology , historical resea rch
paratively infrequ ent manifestation amo ng Marshall McLuh an meant when he defined and more . In challenging me ve1y concept of
adu lts may be more tl1e result of long-term the only prop er function of present-d ay ph otographi c see ing as "objective," tl1ey've
societal neglect than statistical rarity. education as "civil defense against media conu·ibuted to a significant op ening of our
Ewald's choice of pupils and collaborators fallout." Whetl1er or not Ewald's young eyes . Throu gh tl1ei..refforts to disseminate the
- the youngest generations of poor and p owe r of ph otographic represe ntation,
wo rking-class people in eco nomically mey've helped maintain me democratic basis
depresse d areas around tl1e wo rld - is of a medium always mreatened by an
radical in its politics. Her appro ach to ph o- encroaching elitism. And by insisting on tl1e
tograp hy edu cation, as synopsized here, is imperative of revelations and disclosures on
radical in its simplicity. The children witl1 born sides of tl1e lens, they've succee ded in
whom she's bee n wo rking since tl1e early keep ing memselves as honest as tl1ei..rcollab-
1970s - whemer from me Chilean Andes; orators. These pictures demand notl1ing less
Soum Africa; rnral India ; Ho uston , Texas; or of us, constituting a collective statement of
(as sampled in tl1is exhibition) App alachia, belief that only in learning to see otl1ers
Kentucky; Chiapas, Mexico; and Colombia - clearly can we come to know ourselves -
are taught tl1e basics of the medium by and mat by op ening ourselves to close
Ewald and turn ed loose in tl1eir ow n con- examination we can beg in at last to confront
texts . They are encouraged to ph otograph tl1ose tl1ings we have in common with all
tl1eir neighborhoo ds, tl1ei.rfriends and family, omers and embrace our differences .
tl1eir pets, tl1ei.r homes, the mings they love - - A. D. Coleman
and tl1eir dreams and imaginings. Then tl1ey ph otograph y critic, New York Observer
write about tl1ei..rpictures, or speak about © Copyright 1997 by A. 0. Coleman. All rights reserved.
mem in tape d inte1v iews mat are subse- By permission of the author and lrnage/\ Vor\d Syndication Services,
P.O.B. 040078, State n Islan d , NY 10304-0002 USA.
quently transcribed . The .resulting images
and texts, amplified with Ewald's ow n Cover: Dawo ud Bey, Laneisha, 1996, Polacolor
Sebastian Go mez Hernandez , The devil is spying on
pictures and commentaries, are eve ntually the girls, Chamula, Mexico , 1991, silver gelatin print, ER photographs, 88Y2"x 44", cou1tesy
edited, wim me children's active involvement, 8" x 10", cou 1t esy James Danz iger Galle1y, New Yo rk David Beitzel Galle1y, New York