If I can make work that begins to transcend difference while locating a common humanity that we all share, a radical reshaping of the world is possible, one person at a time.
—Dawoud Bey
Dawoud Bey’s 1970s photographs of Harlem present a moment and place, but in ways that reflect many moments, many places. Harlem, U.S.A., he calls the series: this, Harlem, is the United States.
Together, the images offer glimpses of the specific everyday lives of people while evoking the diversity of a neighborhood. Bey’s photographs, like Zanele Muholi’s at left, fight stereotyping by celebrating individuality.
From the exhibition: Give a damn. (June 30 – September 30, 2018)