THE BLACK GAZE: PORTRAITURE OF LOVE AND DESIRE Photo Book Available
Ages 16-29
Fall 2022, JHU-MICA Film Centre
What is the Black gaze, and how can portraiture exploring love and desire expand and complicate our understanding? In this workshop, student fellows will explore the history of Black portraiture, and ultimately refine their artistic points of view by each focusing on their own unique gaze. Inspired by a rich yet marginalized archive of Black artists, including Roy DeCarava, Gordon Parks, Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, James Van der Zee, Latoya Ruby Fraiser, and Spike Lee, fellows will engage with the theme of intimacy: how do we perceive it? How do we create it? And how can we nurture a more intimate relationship with our own creativity? In discussion they’ll sharpen critical viewing and thinking skills, and in both group and individual projects, they’ll experiment with light, shadow, and composition, learning to think more intentionally about how to move through space as photographers. And they’ll complete the workshop with portfolios of beautiful portraits. Their work will be shared on the program website and at a public exhibition. Limited to 8 student fellows.
Faith Couch is a fine art photographer, educator, and curator whose work illuminates the Black memory landscape. Her photographs have been exhibited domestically and internationally, and her editorial work has appeared in the WSJ, NYT, and elsewhere. She is a 2021 Forbes Magazine 30 under 30: Art and Style honoree.
Michelle Mokaya is a Johns Hopkins University undergraduate in the School of Engineering. She is passionate about using her degree to work on sustainable projects that could help improve the lives of those in marginalized communities.
