‘A Choice Of Weapons: Inspired By Gordon Parks’

BlackFilm.com
By Alex McGaughey

Today HBO released the official trailer for the documentary, A Choice Of Weapons: Inspired By Gordon Parks. The film explores the enduring legacy of photographer, writer, composer, activist and filmmaker, Gordon Parks, and spotlights his visionary work and its impact on the next generation of artists. The film debuts Monday, November 15 (10:00-11:30 p.m. ET/PT), commemorating Gordon Parks birthday (November 30) and will debut on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max.

The life and work of Gordon Parks remains strikingly relevant today. A Choice Of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks explores the power of images to inspire a new generation to work for social change. Through the lens of three contemporary photographers, we see Gordon’s legacy come to life. Devin Allen whose photograph “Baltimore Uprising” of the Freddie Gray protests was featured on the cover of Time Magazine; LaToya Ruby Frazier who for five years followed the Flint, Michigan water crisis and most recently photographed Breonna Taylor’s family for Vanity Fair; and Jamel Shabazz whose photographs on the streets of New York form a visual history of the hip hop era while simultaneously presenting affirming images for his community.

‘A Choice Of Weapons: Inspired By Gordon Parks’ an HBO original documentary about legendary photographer Gordon Parks and the influence he’s had on a new generation of artists.

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Courtesy of: BlackFilm.com & HBO

The Royal Photographic Society announces the recipients of its 2021 Awards

The Royal Photographic Society Awards are the world’s longest running and most prestigious photography accolades. Now in its 143rd year, the awards recognise individuals working across both still and moving image. The Awards celebrate significant achievements, showcase new and emerging talent, and highlight notable contributions from RPS members.

The 2021 recipients tell remarkable stories, and their work is a testament to the power of photography to inspire, uplift, incite change and bring about personal, social, and cultural wellbeing.

The eighteen categories span different genres and applications of photography, including the recognition of achievements in moving image, new media, science and imaging, education, and curation. The categories continue to evolve to reflect new ways of seeing, making, and sharing photography.

For 2021, the RPS Awards will be celebrated online, with a series of events with notable past and current recipients beginning January 2022.

RPS Awards 2021

Honorary Fellowships

Vanley Burke, VALIE EXPORT, Lola Flash, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Dana Lixenberg, Alec Soth and Mitra Tabrizian for their exceptional and innovative work connected to the art or science of photography.

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Courtesy of: The Royal Photographic Society

“The Last Cruze” – LaToya Ruby Frazier

CAAM – California African American Museum

Courtesy of: caamuseum.org

Industrial Residue in the Rust Belt: LaToya Ruby Frazier and Taylor Renee Aldridge in Conversation

California African American Museum
Streamed live on Sep 16, 2021

To inaugurate The Last Cruze exhibition at CAAM, the artist LaToya Ruby Frazier will be joined by CAAM Visual Arts Curator Taylor Renee Aldridge to discuss Frazier’s ongoing work in documentary film and photography. In various interconnected bodies of work, Frazier uses collaborative storytelling with the people who appear in her artwork to celebrate working-class individuals and to address topics of industrialism, environmental justice, workers’ rights, human rights, and family. The Last Cruze extends this impulse by offering a monument to the workers of the former General Motors factory in Lordstown, Ohio, which was “unallocated” in 2019, leaving many of the factory workers unemployed. Frazier and Aldridge will discuss Black Americans’ contributions to the history of industrial advancement in this country, and how post-industrial decline continues to negatively impact working-class communities in Rust Belt cities, like Frazier’s hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania.

LaToya Ruby Frazier: The Last Cruze and related programs are presented in partnership with USC School of Architecture, USC Roski School of Art and Design, and USC Visions and Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative.

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Courtesy of: CAAM (California African American Museum)

Chatting the Pictures: From Breonna Taylor’s Side Window

Chatting the Pictures
with Michael Shaw

Every two weeks, Chatting the Pictures present short highlights of a lively discussion between Michael Shaw, publisher of Reading the Pictures, and writer, professor and historian, Cara Finnegan. Each video is dedicated to analyzing a significant picture in the news.

This portrait of Breonna Taylor’s Sister, Juniyah Palmer, was taken by LaToya Ruby Frazier for Vanity Fair. Palmer was living with Breonna, but she wasn’t home the night Louisville police launched the fatal raid that killed her sister. LaToya Ruby Frazier is well known for her photographic work on family history, and social and economic justice. We discuss the picture as a powerful emotional and forensic record of an event that seems to defy due process.

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Courtesy of: Reading the Pictures

In conversation: LaToya Ruby Frazier with Renée Mussai & Daniel Morgan with Karen Redrobe

The Photographers’ Gallery
Streamed live on Sep 30, 2020

Presented in collaboration with Kraszna-Krausz Foundation (KKF), celebrate the outstanding contributions to photography and moving image publishing. This extended live-streamed event (2 hrs) begins with a rare chance to hear from Chicago-based artist LaToya Ruby Frazier, whose eponymous book has won this year’s KKF Photography Book Award. She will be in conversation with curator Renée Mussai. This will be followed by an exploration of the work of Hannah Frank with Daniel Morgan. Morgan is the editor of Frame by Frame: A Materialist Aesthetics of Animated Cartoons by Hannah Frank, which is the recipient of the KKF Moving Image Book Award 2020. He will be joined by art historian, Karen Redrobe. Each discussion will be followed by an opportunity for audience Q&As.

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Courtesy of: The Photographers’ Gallery