PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT PROMOTES CONVERSATIONS ABOUT RACE: BLACK & WHITE AT 701 WHALEY OPENS OCTOBER 2
Even before Black & White opens, it will have already achieved part of its goal—to promote frank, intimate conversations about race and to act as a tool for discovering more about people in the community. The resulting 20 black and white photographs will be shown at the hallway: community art space at 701 Whaley, October 2 through December 10. A reception will be held October 8th from 3pm-5pm at 701 Whaley in the Granby Room. Drinks and food will be provided along with a performance by Indigo Soul, led by Terrance Henderson.
The portrait exhibit was created by photographers Dalvin Spann, who is a 36-year-old Black man, and Lee Ann Kornegay, a 57-year-old white woman. They envisioned it as a project that would challenge both themselves, as artists, and ultimately the viewers of their work. The two artists were hoping to learn new things about their subjects and talk about what it feels like to be Black or white in today's world. Each agreed to photograph 10 people of a different color.
Kornegay began taking photos when her mother gave her a Canon camera back in 1977. She works frequently in video and has made numerous documentaries about such topics as West Africa, the landmark civil rights case Briggs vs Elliott, and even 701 Whaley, where the exhibit is being held. Spann first started taking photos as a way to show samples of his visual art, then became a serious student of black and white film photography in college. He is a co-founder of Izms of Art, a collective of black artists.
Black & White developed from the desire to gain and promote a better understanding of people of different colors. The artists hope the exhibit will serve as a tool for moving race relations forward and in a positive direction by something as simple as getting to know each other. “For me,” says Spann, “Black & White is a representation of people who use their art form, profession, and life to cross over the boundaries of color. True passion of what inspires you should have no bearing on color, race or walks of life.”