Race is complicated. And few aspects of race in America have been more conflicted than the relationship between white people and black veterans. At one extreme, black veterans have been lynched simply for daring to wear their uniforms in public. At the other, they've been held up as the finest representatives of their community. In Charlottesville, no African American veterans were lynched. But black men in uniform weren't always honored either. It's a story worth telling. Today, I'm going to tell it about World War I. Continue reading

I've published an essay on Jill Freedman's magnificent new book, Resurrection City, 1968, over on the Time/Life website. The city -- a shantytown on the Mall in Washington, D.C. -- became the symbol of the Poor People's Campaign [PPC], Martin Luther's King's last crusade. Freedman joined the PPC and lived in Resurrection City from start to finish. Her photos are like no others from the campaign are like no others -- raw, powerful, unflinching, humane. Continue reading

The women and men of the Poor People's Campaign came to Washington, D.C., in the spring of 1968, by the thousand -- young and old, black and white, traveling in busses and cars and mule trains. Most were African Americans, but Latinos, whites, and members of half a dozen Native American nations were on hand as well. Virtually all of them were poor. Although Martin Luther King and the Southern Leadership Conference had summoned them to the nation's capital, the movement belonged to them. In New York City, a young photographer named Jill Freedman heard King's call -- and she answered. Her camera was in her hand. Continue reading

On Monday, October 9th, I'm taking Life back to Africa. It's been away since 1972, when it went out of business. For the previous 36 years, however, it had been America's most important source of visual information about the world and that world most certainly included Africa -- for good... Continue reading

One of the most significant photography exhibitions of the year -- Priya Ramrakha: A Pan-African Perspective, 1950-1968 -- opens on Thursday, October 5th, at the FADA Gallery, in Johannesburg, South Africa. It will add immensely to our understanding of African photography. The exhibition draws on his recently rediscovered archive and brings the work of this pioneering African photojournalist to the public for the first time since his death in 1968. Continue reading

I'm happy to announce that several of my photographs are included in We The People, an exhibition of documentary and portrait photography at the University of Virginia's Arthur J. Morris Law Library that will be on view until June 2018. The exhibit showcases the work of 15 photographers who explore... Continue reading

Music defines our lives. That's true of the present, when what we listen to tells us who we are. And it's true of the past -- music kindles memories. There's nothing original about these insights, but there are times when they're more apparent than at others. Last May, Gregg Allman's... Continue reading

What's it like when your hometown becomes a hashtag? When the Virginia Quarterly Review asked me to write some reflections on the white supremacists' terrorism of August 11th and 12th, 2017, and their aftermath, I was glad to say "yes." And to try to answer that question. Continue reading

Short answer. White supremacists capitalized on the city's decision to remove a statue of Confederate hero Robert E. Lee from a park in the center of the city. Continue reading

The Black Photographers Annual is now freely available online. This is a very big deal for anyone who cares about photography and American cultural history -- and for anyone who teaches the subjects. Forty-five years after the first volume of the annual appeared, copies are very hard to find. As part of the exhibition, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has digitized the annuals, and they're now freely available to anyone with an internet connection Continue reading

We'll probably look back on 2017 and say that A Commitment to the Community, an exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts that celebrates the Black Photographers Annual of the 1970s and '80s, was the most important photographic exhibition of the year. Continue reading

Nobody moves faster than Daniella Zalcman. A big claim, but I'm pretty sure it's true. The organization that she created, Women Photograph, went from idea to reality in no more than as year. And what a tremendously impressive reality -- an online database of female visual journalists in 87 countries, a mentoring program for younger visual journalists, and a source of funding for travel and for long-term projects. Along the way, she's continued to work on Signs of Your Identity, some of the most innovative and moving documentary photography that I've seen in years. Continue reading

This photo shouldn't exist. Two women. A passionate embrace. A deep kiss. What's it doing in a respectable 19th-century photographer's archive? Continue reading

This is not a lynch mob. That might seem like a strange thing to say about this photo. But perhaps not, depending on your knowledge of history or the color of your skin. There's no question that a black man or woman who came across a scene like this, in 1917 -- it's somewhere just outside Charlottesville, Virginia -- would proceed with a great deal of caution. Continue reading

Pictures are complicated. So is being black in America. Throughout his life, Gordon Parks wrestled with both of these enduring truths. At first glance, Gordon Parks' most famous photo -- his portrait of Ella Watson -- looks pretty simple. Gordon Parks/Farm Security Administration: Government Charwoman (Ella Watson). Washington, D.C., August... Continue reading

This brief post is about an unexpected coincidence. I just heard from my friend, David Parks, a photographer and filmmaker who is the son of the legendary photographer, writer, filmmaker, and composer Gordon Parks. David sent me a link to a video that showcases photos that he made when he... Continue reading

This going to be fun. And I'm willing to bet my next paycheck that it's also going to be a fantastic artistic experience. On Saturday night, November 7th, the University of Virginia's Free Bridge Quintet will supply the music at a screening of F.W. Murnau classic silent film, Faust. The... Continue reading

Albert M. Bender, Illinois WPA Art Project, c. 1936-1940. Continue reading

Over the last two weeks, a wave of student protests have swept over South Africa. The spark was a hike in tuition fees, which many students are already unable to afford. The deeper causes have to do with a fragile economy, gloomy job prospects, and the slow pace of transforming... Continue reading

I've never met a genius. I've spent the last 25 years teaching in major research universities. Before that I went to an awfully good grad school, and I'd still be hard pressed to say that I've met anyone that I'd call a genius -- somebody, that is, with the dazzling,... Continue reading

When Jen Bekman asks you to write an essay about one of your favorite photographers, the only correct answer is "Yes." Jen is the CEO of 20x200, an online gallery that she created with a mission to make great art affordable for almost everyone. It's a terrific project. Last summer,... Continue reading

Acclaimed South African photographer Cedric Nunn will visit the University of Virginia on September 16th and 17th, and I couldn't be happier. Cedric is both an artist whose work I've admired for many years and a friend. I can't wait to hear him speak and to introduce him to my... Continue reading

When I made this portrait of Kait Dunton 10 years ago, she was a promising young pianist and composer who had just graduated from the University of Virginia. Four years earlier, she had arrived in Charlottesville as a gifted classical pianist, but she thought that her future would be in... Continue reading

It's been a long time -- too long a time -- since I updated this blog. And I'm pretty sure that my regular readers (all three or four of them) have departed for more entertaining pastures. To them I say, please come back. Why have I been so silent? In... Continue reading

Gordon Parks was a serious man. His claim to fame as a photographer rests on the searing photo-essays that he produced for Life magazine on issues such as poverty and racial justice. But he had a lighter side, and he revealed it, from time to time, to Life's readers. Today... Continue reading