Shekenia Mann
Shekenia Mann photographed Black families living in the Mississippi Delta who work as cotton pickers.
Eventually, Mann did make it back to the Mississippi Delta, camera in tow, to photograph Black men in the area who were still working picking cotton.
“I saw brothers and I said, they looked like me. They looked like Detroiters,” she remembers. “They were clean and neat … their jeans were ironed and you could see their shirts were crisp and clean. It reminded me of Detroit. I’m like, this is us. These people are up North too, from the Great Migration. So my thought was, it’s 2012 and we still picking cotton. The only difference is that we’re using cotton pickers to do it.”
The purpose of Mann’s photographs is not to shame people who are still doing this back-breaking work, but to show how some things haven’t changed much in some areas in the South. She says she didn’t ask the subjects in her photos about their working and living conditions and whether they were being fairly compensated, though those are questions the photographs pose. Mostly, she wanted to document their lives and for Black men like them to see their own beauty.
“Look at yourself and see how beautiful and resilient you are,” she says. “See your beauty and your strength, and hear from your ancestors from which [you] came. I think all of us could benefit from knowing where and from whom we’ve come from, because you can draw upon that strength and continue to rise and continue to imagine, and do more and better.”
“Amen,” Rock adds.
Still in Place is on view at the NCA Gallery inside Northwest Activity Center through August; 18100 Meyers Rd., # 392, Detroit. Hours are by appointment.
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66b425248dd6472eb79b1add0d868e5b&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metrotimes.com%2Farts%2Fsystems-of-oppression-are-still-in-place-for-artists-yvette-rock-and-shekenia-mann-37002514&c=12081207111137915453&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-08-07 01:32:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
