Carlos Cooks, Dominican American, 1913 - 1966 Search this
Medium:
pigment on paper (fiber product)
Dimensions:
H x W: 20 × 30 in. (50.8 × 76.2 cm)
Type:
portraits
inkjet prints
Place captured:
Harlem, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
Date:
ca. 1967; printed 2019
Description:
A black-and-white photograph, Untitled (Earrings display at African Market, Harlem), by Kwame Brathwaite. The photograph depicts a woman reaching for a pair of earrings hanging from a line strung across a market booth. The woman, depicted from the waist up, is standing with her back to the viewer towards the back of the booth. She is reaching with her proper left hand for a pair of metal earrings hanging from the line closest to her. She is wearing a medium toned coat with a woolen texture and has a large bracelet with circular cutouts on her proper left wrist. Each of the four hanging lines in front of the woman is filled with rows of drop earring of different shapes, sizes, and materials, as well one beaded necklace on the far left. In the foreground of the image, is a fifth line of earrings strung across the booth, toward the front. On the left side of the booth is a set of shelving with a calendar clipped to one of the shelves. On the right side of the booth is a plain wall with a rough oblong piece cut out of it. The back of the booth features a plain wall that has various event flyers, posters, maps, and photographs taped to it. Some of the events include: [NATURALLY ’66], [NATURALLY ’67], [GARVEY DAY / CELEBRATION], [a portrait of / PATRICE / LUMUMBA], [BUY BLACK], [SHEIK’S DANCE], and others. There are also photographs of Marcus Garvey, Carlos Cooks, and Patrice Lumumba and a magazine cover titled [EXTRA] with the byline [CARLOS COOKS[sic] DEATH] taped to the booth wall. There is a low shelf lining the back wall of the booth. Two paint cans, small earring display, a radio, a roll of paper towels, and small piles of paper sit on top of the shelf. The landscape oriented image has a thick white border. The back of the photograph is plain and white.
