Last night I had the distinct pleasure of viewing the Class Pictures exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum as well as hearing Dawoud Bey speak on his work.
His formal, directed portraits gently insist that the viewer engage with the subjects and open the door to the social and cultural activism which motivated his picking up a camera. The teenagers in Class Pictures are empowered by the unsentimental, respectful gaze by which the camera allows us to consider them as individuals, rather than marketing demographic or news story. Their words and countenance ennoble them, and therefore us.
He reassured me that What's Going On will have a new installment soon. I enjoy few things more than having an encounter with an artist be as informative and nourishing as their work.
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