In his photographs, Dawoud Bey strives to present real people and a “true” documentation of African-American life. His earliest works made in Harlem in the late 1970s challenged the photographic tradition of street portraiture, and have been described by critics as a form of cultural autobiography similar to that found in the African-American literary tradition. Bey seeks to empower his subjects, giving them more of a voice–more familiarity and less anonymity. He also photographs other communities, cultures, and even his friends and students.
This work was made as part of Bey’s 1995 residency at the Walker Art Center, in which he worked with local teens on projects related to portraiture and documentation, using a large-format Polaroid camera. A number of works in the museum’s collection are acquired as a result of residencies, part of the museum’s commitment to working with living artists to create new work.