magazine girls
Posted on | April 23, 2005 | 10 Comments
So, if it weren’t for the Sistagraphy mailing list I wouldn’t have known about Deb Willis being named one of “the 100 Most Important People in Photography” by American Photo magazine in their May/June 2005 issue (go, Deb!!).
Apparently it has been 7 years since they did one of these roundups. It may as well have been 70. Although I know several people on this list and think they’re all great, in 2005 is Deb really the only black person in photography worthy of the list? (In 1994 model agent Bethann Hardison was the sole black “Important person”; in 1998, there were none.) Moreover, if Deb’s work as an historian and professor (primarily of black photographers) is so “Important,” doesn’t it contradict her inclusion that there are no other black people on the list? Yes, we all know these lists are highly subjective and exclude as many people as they include, and we’re “post-black” and all that, right, but really, what does this say to the rest of us? Another 165 years and you’ll make it! And as silly as such lists are don’t think for a minute they aren’t taken seriously or all of these people (and/or their institutions) wouldn’t have submitted photographs for their inclusion.
How often do you get to go the the newsstand and get 2 magazines with friends in or on them? My dear friend Teruko is on the cover of the May 2005 issue of More magazine (go, Teruko!!!).
Looking through the magazine, I was very excited and happy for Teruko and wished they had included more of her on the inside (and/or her alone on the cover—she was the winner of their 2004 Model Search but they have yet to do a feature on her by herself!). But what really gave me pause was the feature “Show Her the Money:”
Is this magazine really touting the payouts of female corporate criminals as progress for female workers? I was absolutely stunned.
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April 23rd, 2005 @ 11:58 am
Yay, Deb!! Yay, Teruko!!
(Boo American Photo!!
Boo More Magazine!!
Boo Corporate Criminals at HP and everywhere else!)
And I suppose “post-black” might mean something in “post-white supremacy.”
But stunning this is not, alas. This is oh so predictable in America Inc. Once again, as my dear Eduardo Galeano writes, it’s all upside-down in the Americas. If they are criminals, they will get paid mad money — might even end up in the white house. We gotta read it all backwards/upside-down, etc.
But can I just say both Deb and Teruko are gorgeous! Just seeing them in magazines like this makes everything better. The small victories worth savoring.
And this blog is really heating up! Woo-hooo!
April 24th, 2005 @ 10:49 am
Congrats to Deb and Teruko!
But having said that, I am a little irritated at these mags – recognition always seems to fall into the “so little, so late” category. And don’t even get me started on the whole post-black thing. It’s been 4 years since the term was set upon us and I’m still trying to sort out what it really means…
April 24th, 2005 @ 1:25 pm
Yeah … what Lisa said!
April 24th, 2005 @ 3:38 pm
Lisa and Adrienne, you’ll both appreciate this. I was just talking to Deb, who recently sat on a panel in New Orleans for the exhibition HairStories, and the first question lobbed at her was, “so is this post-black?”
Why are we all now saddled with someone else’s empty jargon?!?!? It wasn’t interesting when it was first uttered!
April 25th, 2005 @ 6:37 pm
Question: “So is this post-black?”
Answer:
a) No, it’s post-my ass.
b) What post? I don’t see any damned post.
c) Are you post-lobotomy?
d) none (while using your pummel-fists to answer for you)
e) AAAARRRRGGGHHH!
April 26th, 2005 @ 5:28 pm
Hey Carla!
As always, you are completely on point!
Good to see you blogging!
As for “post-black” — in my experience, post-black people turn positively red-black-and-green when they get into trouble.
April 26th, 2005 @ 7:55 pm
I love Prof. Kim! That’s hilarious! It should be a t-shirt or bumper sticker.
April 27th, 2005 @ 11:35 am
Congratulation Dr. Deb Deb, you have made a great contribution to the exposure of great Black photographers before and after 1900. It is important that we as Blacks must write our own history to get acknowledge by all people. With the new technology we must provide the world with the many accomplishments by African American people. We were the first and we shall be the last. Peace
April 28th, 2005 @ 12:49 pm
I have to agree with everyone…..BOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I guess that we stand on the shoulders of no one. congrats to Deborah Willis…
Btw,
Ms. Williams, I am not sure if you remember me…TCNJ and Prof. Kim–when “female body” came out. You inspired me then and you continue to inspire me…glad to see you blogging! Peace and Blessings.
April 29th, 2005 @ 4:31 pm
Hi Monique,
Of course I remember you. How are you doing? What are you up to? Grad school? Are you still making photographs?
And Oggi, absolutely—this is why I have this site and encourage other artists to do the same—DIY! I think it’s really the only way to create something lasting and meaningful. I don’t want to rewrite someone else’s version of history; I want to create my own. That said, when one of us is thrown into the general mix, so to speak, there’s meaning attached to that, so I respond accordingly.