Window on the Soul: The Portraits of Dawoud Bey

Dawoud Bey

Dawoud Bey was hoping to be a jazz drummer when he went to see "Harlem on my Mind" and was struck by the images of everyday people displayed on the museum walls.  As a 16-year-old he'd just received a camera and was inspired to do his own street photography in Harlem.  That collection of work, exhibited in 1979 as "Harlem, USA," was the beginning of an impressive career exploring the photographic portrait.  A retrospective of "Harlem, USA" is now at the The Art Institute of Chicago. This image "Man in a Bowler Hat" was taken at that time.  

A Man in a Bowler Hat, 1976

Notice the man's open, friendly and curious expression and how the gesture of his hand at the bottom of the image adds a sense of relaxed  elegance.  Those elements give voice to the subjects' personality and character and are a hallmark of a Dawoud Bey photograph.

The image below, taken a few years later, has all the elements of his recent color work:  The girl is posed, as are all his subjects, but natural and relaxed.

A Girl in a Deli Doorway, 1988

But unlike street photographers who try to capture an unguarded moment, Bey wants his subjects to participate in the photograph.  "A Girl in a Deli Doorway" is at once simple and complex.  She offers a wistful curiosity tempered by uncertainty.  And while she appears open and engaged, she's also holding back, and partially hidden with her hand closed. Look at the background and framing.  It's very dynamic, with strong angles that take you into the background and the hard vertical of the wall that brings you back to the girl.

Just capturing a person's essence with your lens is difficult enough.  And working with teenagers?  Well, once again Bey has a deft touch.  Here are some portraits of high school students from his exhibit, Class Pictures.

This work led to a position as artist-in-residence with Emory 

University.  Part of his time there was spent in portraying the University's commitment to diversity, called it The Emory Project.  And to make his point, he posed unlikely couples such as the ones below.

Kali Ahset-Amen, Sociology Grad Student and Geshe Ngawang Phende, Buddist Monk

Paula Biegelsen, Student and Shirley Simms, Custodian

Here's a link to a video showing Bey working on the Emory Project.  And here's a link to Bey's website, which has lots of images of his other work.  In all, you can see a real celebration of everyday people.  And a deep respect for honoring their place in the world.  

Dauwoud Bey

I like seeing the world though his eyes and meeting the people who inhabit it.  It reminds me of how much we have in common with each other.  And about those sometimes subtle qualities that we all share on our journey though our days.   

The New New Yorker

I admit it up front, I haven't been paying attention.  So if this is not news to you, then you can skip the rest.  But today I spent some time on the New Yorker website.  And I found a lot of stuff that was new, or I should say new to me.  And I'd like to tell you about it, just in case I'm not the last person in the world to discover the wheel, or fire or whatever.


So, here goes.  Yes, of course there are those indepth well- written pieces that so typify the New Yorker of old.  But there are also wonderful short bits, lots of video and audio slide shows.  They even animate one of their cartoons, although not sure that works so well.  But there's plenty to explore.  And I'm talking about the side show stuff.  The main attractions remain.  For example:


A bit they call fingerpainting which are city scenes created by Jorge Colombo.  Click on one and you watch, in process, as he "draws" using Brushes, an iphone app.  That's a finished piece on the left.

And there's a jigsaw puzzle of a New Yorker cover, with three layers of difficulty for the visual wizards out there.  A built-in timer lets you play against the clock. 

But what has me really buzzed is that all the charming video pieces that I used to write about that were abandoned by the NYT seem to have found a welcome home at TNY.  Cool.  
So here are some pieces to check out:

Peter Schjeldahl writes a blog about art.  For example, his piece "Bye Bye Kitty" on new Japanese art at the Japan Society has haunting, strange images.  I also like listening to his voice, it has a pleasing intimacy, a lot of humanity in his descriptions.

"Portraiture Now"  A fascinating audio slideshow about modern portraits by TNY photographers, Steve Pyke and Martin Schoeller, who made them.  The work was on display at the National Portrait Gallery in DC.  Their bold work is brought to life by their insightful comments.  Very nice piece.

"Burning Bright"  A beautiful visual collage about Asian people who live with Tigers. Video without words.  Just natural sound, music and footage from a new documentary in process by George Butler.  He did Pumping Iron and lots of other work.

"Social Studies"  A funny and engaging profile of a young man running for NY City Council.  What makes it work is he's still in High School and talks about the juggle of campaigning while trying to keep his grades up.  Plus he's so earnest but also self-aware, and the piece just makes you think about how all those political pros so cynically package themselves.  


So there you have some things to savor.  I love the variety, how eclectic it is.  I love the wry humor that wafts around the edges of some of their stuff.  Plus the varied collection of visual delights.  Intelligently conceived and skillfully executed.  Thank you TNY.