Committed to the image : contemporary Black photographers

"The exhibition presents the work of ninety-four artists who live and work in the United States and includes a wide variety of images taken over the past half century, particularly the last decade."
Texts: / 1. Clyde Taylor: Empowering the Eye / 2. Deba P. Patnaik: Diasporic Double Vision / 3. Biographies.
Book Description : / "The ninety-four contemporary Black photographers represented in this volume have used their cameras as tools of social commentary and personal and artistic exploration, bearing witness to changes in the Black experience over the past fifty years. These uncompromising, thought-provoking, often highly politicized images cover such subjects as the daily lives of African Americans; the Civil Rights movement; the impact of African American art, literature, and ideals of beauty on American society at large; and cross-cultural influences throughout the African Diaspora. Black artists, philosophers, writers, poets, musicians, and sports heroes-including James Brown, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Bob Marley, Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Frasier, James VanDerZee, Jacob Lawrence, and Martin Luther King-are featured throughout.
Some of the images address the most personal issues of philosophy and identity, often arising from the photographers' own experiences. The photographers are all working today, and most of them are at the height of their productivity; coming from every region of the United States, their work represents a far-ranging exploration of contemporary Black identity. The images are complemented by two essays by acknowledged authorities on contemporary photography and cultural politics, Clyde Taylor and Deba P. Patnaik, who assess the work of Black photographers in the context of contemporary American society and the traditional assumptions of the dominant culture."