After researching Dawoud Bey I was drawn to his “Black-and-White Type 55 Polaroid Street Portraitsā series. I’ve always been in love with street photography and it was great seeing him shoot street photographs in neighborhoods I’m aware of. From this series, each picture tells a story about the person being photographed. In this series, the models are looking into the camera with little to no facial expression but the details in the pictures and in the background storytells.
This is an example of my favorite picture from the series. As you can see the model in the photography has n
o facial expression, all of the expression is coming from his eyes.Ā This is an example to smiling with your eyes. Though he looks serious the icey he’s eating shows his innocence and showing him just being a kid.Ā Black and white photo sometimes portrays seriousness, but I love how Bey was able to balance it out in this image.
Photograph: Dawoud Bey
Dawoud Bey grew up in Queens. Did a lot of early street photography in Harlem. One difference between the street work and class pictures is that in class pictures he uses lights. But on that video I showed in class he credits his ability to work quickly in the studio to his street photography experience. And the photo you selected could almost be a studio shot with its symmetry and the boy’s direct look at the camera.