During a recent trip to Atlanta, I visited the Deana Lawson exhibit at the High Museum of Art. Lawson’s portraits reach across the Black diaspora, portraying intimate scenes staged in locations including Togo, Jamaica, Brazil, and the U.S. I was fascinated by the fact that many of Lawson’s subjects were strangers to her and each other. Rather than depictions of relationships that already were, her photos instead are speculative images, visioning new and perhaps temporary intimacies. Alongside these staged portraits are Lawson’s family photos, blurring the boundaries between “real” and imagined bonds, nuclear family relations and the sprawling kinship of Black people across the globe.
Black Gold
Black Gold
Black Gold
During a recent trip to Atlanta, I visited the Deana Lawson exhibit at the High Museum of Art. Lawson’s portraits reach across the Black diaspora, portraying intimate scenes staged in locations including Togo, Jamaica, Brazil, and the U.S. I was fascinated by the fact that many of Lawson’s subjects were strangers to her and each other. Rather than depictions of relationships that already were, her photos instead are speculative images, visioning new and perhaps temporary intimacies. Alongside these staged portraits are Lawson’s family photos, blurring the boundaries between “real” and imagined bonds, nuclear family relations and the sprawling kinship of Black people across the globe.