Charles “Chuck” Stewart (1927-2017), Portrait of Eric Dolphy (1928–1964), alto saxophonist, Chuck Stewart’s Studio NYC February 1964. Gelatin silver print, 1964© Courtesy Chuck Stewart Photography, LLC
Read the Vogue article "Deborah Willis Celebrates 25 Years of Reflections in Black" by Folasade Ologundudu in the Arts section of Vogue!
"Deborah Willis isn’t just a photographer, curator, and educator; she’s also an excavator, unearthing a visual testimony of Black life."
Reflections in Black: A Reframing Book Launch
Join The Center for Black Visual Culture and Tisch School of Arts, Department of Photography and Imaging as we celebrate the release of Reflections in Black: A Reframing, the 25th anniversary edition of Dr. Deborah Willis’ internationally acclaimed publication Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present. This pre-publication book launch will include a reception, a panel of selected speakers, and will conclude with a book signing. Limited books will be available, and sold on a first come first served basis.
About the Publication
Originally published in 2000, Reflections in Black, published by Liveright, was the first single-volume work to collect the images of leading African American photographers—from the daguerreotype to the digital age. Through its sheer power and inherent beauty, Deborah Willis’s groundbreaking assemblage of photographs of African American life from 1840 to the present triumphantly celebrated family, endurance, and spirituality over the last two centuries as it upended stereotypes and rewrote American history. Aware that so much has changed since 2000, Willis—a world-renowned photographer, curator, and author—has now created a breathtaking twenty-fifth anniversary edition, juxtaposing hundreds of images that appeared in the original edition with 130 new ones.
This enhanced volume, with a new foreword from Robin D. G. Kelley and a coda from Kalia Brooks, once again affirms the power of photography to reconfigure our conception of Black life in the African diaspora and American history. Featuring the works of photographers such as Albert Chong, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Allison Janae Hamilton, Renee Cox, Carrie Mae Weems, Andre D. Wagner, and Hank Willis Thomas, this new edition is dedicated to the artists who stretch the definition of photography, creating pieces more akin to multimedia and conceptual art.
About the Publication
Originally published in 2000, Reflections in Black, published by Liveright, was the first single-volume work to collect the images of leading African American photographers—from the daguerreotype to the digital age. Through its sheer power and inherent beauty, Deborah Willis’s groundbreaking assemblage of photographs of African American life from 1840 to the present triumphantly celebrated family, endurance, and spirituality over the last two centuries as it upended stereotypes and rewrote American history. Aware that so much has changed since 2000, Willis—a world-renowned photographer, curator, and author—has now created a breathtaking twenty-fifth anniversary edition, juxtaposing hundreds of images that appeared in the original edition with 130 new ones.
This enhanced volume, with a new foreword from Robin D. G. Kelley and a coda from Kalia Brooks, once again affirms the power of photography to reconfigure our conception of Black life in the African diaspora and American history. Featuring the works of photographers such as Albert Chong, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Allison Janae Hamilton, Renee Cox, Carrie Mae Weems, Andre D. Wagner, and Hank Willis Thomas, this new edition is dedicated to the artists who stretch the definition of photography, creating pieces more akin to multimedia and conceptual art.