Photos of Style and Dignity: Woodard’s Studios and the Delivery of Black Modern Subjectivity
Description:
New Perspectives on Portraiture: “Photos of Style and Dignity: Woodard’s Studios and the Delivery of Black Modern Subjectivity” by Amy M. Mooney From the Edgar P. Richardson Symposium: New Perspectives on Portraiture at the National Portrait Gallery, Sept. 20, and Sept. 21, 2018 Day 2, Session 3: Reassessing Subjectivity Amy M. Mooney Associate Professor of Art and Art History, Columbia College Chicago “Photos of Style and Dignity: Woodard’s Studios and the Delivery of Black Modern Subjectivity” Despite the productiveness of black photographers around the turn of the 20th century, much of their contributions have disappeared from our contemporary consciousness. “Photos of Style and Dignity: Woodard’s Studios and the Delivery of Black Modern Subjectivity” seeks to recover the ways black subjectivity was visualized. Through the work studio photographer William E. Woodard, Dr. Mooney reconnects us with the spirits of black achievement and entrepreneurship, and the power of portraiture to redefine one’s self.
