Changing Times

Label

A woman hugs herself, her eyes closed and her mouth slightly open as though she were sighing. Her deep brown skin glows in the light and a large, soft afro crowns her head as gold flecks dance around her in the background, making her seem almost ethereal. Taken in 1973, this high-fashion style portrait celebrates Black feminine beauty. The photograph centers on the model’s skin and natural hair, and her pose is both glamorous and sensual. Her brightly colored clothing and large gold hoop earrings likewise reinforce the image’s Afrocentric styling. Taken at a time when color analog film was technically produced to match White skin tones, Brathwaite’s development of the tones and highlights of the model’s skin is a technical accomplishment that makes visible the “Black is beautiful” ideology.

From the 2024 exhibition And I'm Feeling Good: Relaxation and Resistance, curated by Alisa Swindell, Associate Curator of Photography

Exhibition History

And I'm Feeling Good: Relaxation and Resistance, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 20-April 13, 2024.

Provenance

Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles, California; sold to present collection, 2023.

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