Photography: Defining What's Real

Photographs are often considered, tokens of remembrance, they capture and preserve emotions, feelings, time and place. In the words of author Eudora Welty “A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.”

             Photography has always been an interest of mine but I’ve hardly had the time to pursue it. With this in mind I set out to find a place locally that centered on photography hoping for some inspiration and more importantly motivation to become a better photographer. In my pursuit I discovered the Silver Eye Center for Photography, a photo gallery on the Southside of Pittsburgh. I decided right then and there this was it.

Upon Arriving at the gallery 27 pairs of eyes greet visitors. The building however happens to be mostly unoccupied. These eyes belong to the teenagers being featured in the current Classroom Photos exhibit. 

The gallery is initially empty except for the man behind the desk. He’s wearing a red and blue plaid shirt and has tortoise shelled thick-rimmed glasses, and he looks to be in his late 20’s and very is approachable.

Dawoud Bey, Odalys, 2003, Chadsey High School, Detroit, Michigan Courtesy of the artist

The smell of the polished wood is quite evident. The gallery is composed of hardwood floors and plain white paint covers the walls. It is very trendy, with white fixtures, and studio lights focused on the artwork. The gallery is spacious yet still small, there is no furniture. The photos on the wall are griping, some quite haunting, and of course each tell a story.

The gallery attendant, Jeffrey, is very well informed about the gallery and the artistic process, probably due to his time as a student of photography at Pittsburgh Filmmakers. Jeffrey works Saturdays and sees anywhere between 5-10 people visit on any given weekend. He also states that the gallery features both local and national artists.

Jeffery shares that in between shows he helps take down and install exhibitions which he enjoys “It gives me a behind the scenes look at how a gallery functions, and has taught me a lot about marketing myself.” Jeffrey hopes to one day establish himself as a professional photographer and praises working at the gallery for the experience it gives him. It has helped him make well-known contacts in the photography community that will benefit him in the future.

A teenage visitor peruses for a while, taking in the photos.  “I’m impressed with the pictures and their great quality.” She tells me.

Jeffery, is also very excited about the current exhibition in the gallery, and shares some information about it. “It is a collection of classroom photos by artist Dawoud Bey.” Seeing Bey’s pictures makes me wonder about him as an artist and more so about his creative process.

According to Dawoud Bey’s website he is a national artist who has been taking photographs for a number of years; He has a Masters of Fine Arts from Yale University and currently resides in Chicago where he is a professor at a local college. Also according to the website he has three books that have been published in conjunction with his exhibitions.

Dawoud Bey, Lauren, 2006, Gateway High School, San Francisco, California Courtesy of the artist

The gallery advertises an upcoming event, which is essentially “An Evening with Dawoud Bey.”

When the night comes, In front of around 100 people in the Carnegie Museum of Art Auditorium, the solemn artist sits in the front row waiting patiently as people file in.

At about 6:35, 5 minutes after the designated start time a woman with short brown hair and an airy voice approaches the podium.

Linda Benedict Jones, curator at the Carnegie Museum of Art begins the lecture by noting it’s been a good year for photography at the museum and in Pittsburgh.

Following the curator’s remarks a very petite dark haired woman, in a dress and boots approaches the podium, I recognize her as Ellen, the director from Silver Eye. She introduces Bey stating that he’s a very sought after artist who has received numerous awards celebrating his work.  

Bey then approaches the stage as the lights dim, and a PowerPoint is projected onto the pull down screen and he then begins speaking slowly and deliberately.

Dawoud Bey is a middle aged African American man, with small gold hoop earrings in his ear, a full beard, wearing all black and casually sipping from the plastic water bottle provided to him.

He takes the audience back to his days as a teenager and enlightens us as to his work all started.  It was 1969 when Bey saw an exhibit in the Metropolitan Museum of Art called “Harlem on my Mind.” The Harlem exhibit was controversial and constructed an image of black America without permission; there were picket lines in front of the Met and he wanted to see the controversy first hand.

Bey says the photos he remembered most were by James VanDeZee who was an African-American Photographer taking pictures of other African Americans. Looking at VanDerZee’s pictures was the first time he had seen pictures of African American subjects on the walls of a museum.

Bey tells of how he inherited his first camera at the age of 16 from his godfather who had recently passed away. He had no idea what to do with the camera and “only took it to be polite” however it piqued his curiously and he eventually learned how to use the camera.  His passion for his craft is evident from his words and body language. The audience is hanging on his every word.

Bey tells us he learned a great deal about photography during his early years. He had to figure out how one finds subjects, and realized that the photos that resonated the most were those with human subjects, but didn’t know where to find them. Eventually he picked a place and was ultimately able to see how photos functioned as a window into the past. 

Another influence on Bey was Roy DeCarava, who was also an African American photographer. His photos were significant to Bey because they were about African American subjects and they were entirely self-motivated, no newspaper or studio interest. DeCarava’s photos showed Bey that African American subjects could be the basis of rigorous art practices.