Full Description
In this new collection, Sealy argues
that Western photography and its institutions are at a critical juncture, having
been forced to reckon with the medium's colonial history by Black and global
majority photographers, artists and cultural theorists who interrogate archives
from the perspective of the Other.
Sealy engages the work of underrepresented Black
photographers and visual artists who, since the period of decolonisation, have
challenged the Othering nature of the colonial camera, from Ernest Cole documenting
Apartheid and US anti-blackness to Armet Francis capturing the spirit of
Caribbean style in postwar Britain. As a curator, Sealy pays special attention
to the role of key photography festivals and exhibitions in providing a space
for the work of African and diasporic artists and photographers who were and
are challenging the colonial nature of photography's origins to come to the
fore.
Sealy also explores the radical potential of photography
once reclaimed and transformed by Black photographers and artists. From the
queer interpretations of Yoruba culture by Rotimi Fani-Kayode to the haunting
absence/presence in the self-portraits of Hélène Amouzou, Sealy traces how the
camera turned inwards has transformed photography into a medium for exploring
Black subjectivity, and in turn a practice of resistance. The book includes a
16-page portfolio of images at its centre, featuring artists Zora J Murff,
Sandra Brewster and others.
