Dawoud Bey shaped his career around his ability to see the world differently than most people. Being hearing impaired, he finds his voice through his photography. He does this by looking into the past and making moments of self-liberation resonate with the modern audience. He also has a deep interest in wanting to describe the black subject in a way that is as complex as the experiences of anyone else. Â Bey expressed that he wanted to reshape the world one person at a time, his goal is to make his work a transformative experience, giving each viewer something they didnât have before.
In his exhibition titled The Birmingham Project, Dawoud Bey presented a series of portraits commemorating the victims lost during the 1963 bombing by the KKK on the Baptist church in Birmingham Alabama. The series comprised of two portraits side by side. The subjects in the photographs represented the young victims at the age they were at their death, and how old they would be if they were still alive today. Dawoud Bey chose Birmingham residents to be his models for this photoshoot. The black and white portraits mirror each other in a way to help connect the different realities imagined here.
Carrie Mae Weems sought to be a voice for women, not just African American women. The Kitchen Table Project was a series of photographs all taken from the same place looking over Carrie Mae Weemsâ kitchen table with a single hanging light and the table itself being the only constants in these photos. Each photo gives the viewer a different frozen moment in a time in this womanâs life. There are deep emotions and memorable moments captured. She explains everyday battles of life are played out in the space before the camera. She asks herself âhow do we begin to alter the social living arrangementâ and she answers with her photography. She examines the power dynamic between domestic relationships, her friends, and her children. This photo is the 10th in her Kitchen Table series. Three women appear to be enjoying a humorous conversation over drinks and a cigarette. With Carrie appearing in focus and her two friends moving and blurring in this photo it almost implies a moment of introspection for Carrie, like sheâs thinking about the truth behind what she just said that made her friends laugh.
The two photographers are different in that Dawoud takes portraits of others to portray a true historical past whereas Carrie takes artistic and idea-challenging scripted photographs where she is the model. Photography has the power to shape the world because it gives us the gift of being able to present and view a different reality. However they are similar in that they are both trying to preserve history that is important to them. Capturing moments in time is imperative to preserve history and shape the world for the better by challenging old ideas and being informed of our past.
Dawoud Bey approaches the idea of using photography as a way of finding his voice by creating a sense of humanity through his images. As he said, he aims to âmake the invisible visibleâ. He aimed to visualize the past in the moment by putting portraits of a child and an âadult versionâ of the child right next to it to show how that child would have looked today if they were still here. This was done in memory of the children that died in the bombing of a church by the KKK. I felt that this project was really powerful because the portraits definitely create a strong sense of emotion from looking at it which I love about the idea of remembering the victims. Dawoud Bey definitely succeeded in creating an impact through his eyes and sharing that moment.
Carrie Mae Weems approaches the idea of using photography as a way of finding her voice by showing that it is possible to speak deeply through the photography taken even from your own kitchen. All it takes is to portray the feelings through the set up and body language. Carrie Mae Weems used her photography to develop a voice not just for African American women, but all women in general. She portrayed the battle between the sexes in a domestic space and the living arrangements. Her photography portrayed a powerful message âwomen hold the key to bedrooms…to generations, and men hold the key to powerâ. I really loved how she portrayed such strong messages from such a simple setting and through a black and white lens.
Their approaches are similar because they both gave strong messages through their photography in their own unique way. The differences were that Dawoud Bey takes his photographs of everyday people outside and at different historical locations and Carrie Mae Weems takes her photographs from simple places like her own home and her kitchen table top and a lamp. I think the power of photography as Dawoud Bey said âto re-shape the worldâ is to speak through the eyes. The idea of conveying the message to the viewer without even speaking is what I find so powerful about photography.
Bey certainly helps us remember the victims. He also brings our attention to how young they were and how much of their lives were lost.
Weems’s use of as you say such a simple setting is the strength of her work. the Kitchen Table becomes a powerful metaphor for the domestic space, for family dynamics and personal life in general.
Well stated. The Birmingham Project makes concrete the years lost to the victims of the bombing.
I find the use of motion blur really interesting in the photo you selected. It certainly makes us focus on the central figure who remains sharp. I think it makes the scene about the action of laughing and talking.