New Discussion Question and Annotated Bibliography #3

Dear All,

Now that we've overviewed the early history of African and African American photography, you've become familiar with two predominant genres of photography: studio (i.e., Keita) and documentary (i.e., Gordon Parks). We'll be continuing to discuss issues of documentary photography, but I'd like you to think and write one post about the differences and similarities between studio and documentary African and African American photography. Amber commented this week about the issue of beauty and looking good. You might think about what issues of beauty have to do with the photographs in question. Also please do think about what it means to control one's image, and what's at stake when it comes to the race of the photographer, the photographed, and the person [you] looking at photographs.

This coming week we will looking at the work of Roy De Carava. [You will note that I am skipping Week #4, as I have somehow fallen behind according to the dates of the syllabus. Now that I am back in the U.S., I will be much more organized!] You will be writing your Annotated Bibliography #3 on De Carava's work. Please look him up and become familiar with his photographs online, and also read: Erina Duganne’s “Roy DeCarava, Harlem, and the Psychic Self” and “Epilogue: Dawoud Bey and the Act of Reciprocity” in The Self in Black and White: Race and Subjectivity in Postwar American Photography. The bibliography is due next Monday at midnight (Sept. 28).

I have emailed you your grades for the first weeks of the semester. Please contact me should you have any questions or concerns.

Best,
Spring