Thoughts from the Editor…
Study of Kin
Marcia Michael
‘…images showing positive representations of black subjects were
not evident in the British national archives.’
Shocking I thought. But
true, according to artist and photographer Marcia Michael who is currently
exhibiting in New Art Exchange’s Central Space (28th September 2012 – 5th January 2013).
Michael’s photographs are
intended to ‘record and reveal the authentic’ portraiture of black identity.
She uses her own family in the series ‘Study of Kin’. I would usually find this
hard to engage with, as artists can sometimes make their work too personal for
a viewer to truly understand. However in Michael’s photographs there is no air
of standard ‘family photographs’, instead she offers a collection of
documentary photography, with an incredibly delicate edge.
The photographs have a
great sense of stillness, made by the ‘studio type’ backdrop and their
beautiful ordinariness. So much so, learning that historic representations of black
identity throughout history has been affected by political circumstance - to
the point that photographs were mainly taken to present negative stereotypes of
the Black community - gave this work a
huge feeling of dignity; which the subjects in the photographs certainly
compliment.
Each of the photographs
deserves time for reflection, but I personally found the photographs of the
subjects turned away from the camera to be particularly poignant. You may be expecting
me to say something conceptual about the meaning of the subject turning away,
but I daren’t taint these photographs with such empty words. These particular
pieces are just simply stunning, and achieve what Michael’s points out - a true
documentation of skin without the attachment of stereotypes.
