For me, Just Pictures captures the infinite possibility of these images.”. Antwaun Sargent fondly remembers his few first years in New York City. _____ Never miss a story. We have this conversation in London and Paris, but we don’t have these conversations also in small cities or spaces. Styling Kevin Hunter . It was released on Oct. 24 at the Aperture Foundation, a non-profit foundation, that “connects the photo community and its audiences with […] You can reach him via email here. And since he has only recently crossed thirty, there will be a lot more coming from him. The questions that I have whenever I start to think about an exhibition or I think about a work of art really informs a lot of my writing and curatorial practice. Antwaun Sargent Covers Issue One of Justsmile. He is the author of the earlier The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion, published by Aperture Foundation in 2019. Antwaun Sargent: I didn’t write anything, which I thought was helpful to be able to just be in the moment. And in these different spaces they take on new meanings. “We can’t confuse visibility with actual institutional and financial support,” says Sargent. This was a landmark show curated by the talented Antwaun Sagent and we think the work of these young Black photographers needs a second look by institutions and collectors. But it also points to the ways in which these artists are working today. Still fresh from publishing his first edited photography book, The New Black Vanguard, Antwaun Sargent has curated the exhibition Just Pictures at projects+gallery in St. Louis, Missouri. I’ve not seen enough change. Book Cover Courtesy Aperture. He started one of the first digital camera classes in New York City at The International Center of Photography in the 90s. Over the past few years, a number of young Black photographers have made their mark on the art world, and critic, writer and curator Antwaun Sargent has made it his mission to cement their legacies. antwaun sargent His writing has appeared in the New York Times, New Yorker, New York Review of Books, W, Vogue, and other publications. Antwaun Sargent Curates Genre-Bending Photography in "Just Pictures" Showcasing the illimitable potential of the next generation of image-makers. With the New Black Vanguard there were a lot of questions that we got to around representation and self-presentation in the book and in the exhibition that’s traveling. “The sheer size of emerging talent featured in The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion, a new book by the curator, critic, and W contributor Antwaun Sargent, is astonishing.” —Stephanie Eckardt, W “The New Black Vanguard is a celebratory and thought-provoking mesh of fashion and art.” —Eni Subair, Refinery29 The book, alongside […] They’re not making images with one audience in mind. Today, Antwaun Sargent is known as the preeminent critical and curatorial voice for one of the most important movements in contemporary photography. Need a break from politics? Jordan Dalah. Styling Ian Bradley. This is my tenth year in New York, and I have largely written, curated exhibitions, and had public conversations with young Black artists. This collection of eight photographers “is a reflection of the spirit in which these images are shot,” explains Chicago-bred Sargent to CNN. Art critic and writer Antwaun Sargent and photographer Joshua Kissi have committed themselves to uplifting Black voices and identities through visual representation. I didn’t have connections in the art world. And we looked at Antwaun Sargent's Just Pictures, which runs for two more weeks in St. Louis. Sargent details the work from his latest exhibit, which closes on the 21st of this month. WEBSITE IN PROGRESS. His first book, “The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion” (Aperture) is out now. One of the earliest color reference cards in the still photo industry featured a woman named Shirley. “This is the new, the now, and this is what’s going to happen next,” Sargent tells ESSENCE. “Every month, we get a new cover or new image from a young Black photographer that really sets the cultural conversation,” says Sargent to CNN. is an art critic and a writer who has contributed to The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vice and more, as well as essays to multiple museum publications. What has helped is that these projects, the book that’s coming out and this show in St. Louis, Just Pictures, are sort of long-term projects. Are we seeing maybe these publications allowing more Black critics to write due to all that is going on? It sparked a debate about the representation of darker-skinned women on the cover of fashion magazines.”. We have featured creative practitioners who push normative envelopes and disrupt conventional confines,” says Susan Barrett, Founder and President of Barrett Barrera Projects, of which projects+gallery is a part. I like that generosity, but also the quality of an image that takes on new meaning depending on what space it’s in. In a richly illustrated essay, curator and critic Antwaun Sargent … Antwaun Sargent: The exhibition has grown out of the work I’ve been doing over the last couple of years. They’re making images with multiple audiences. Why not have this conversation there? Antwaun Sargent’s first book celebrates a new forefront of genre-bending photographers “using their cameras to create contemporary portrayals of black life” This article was published in issue #7890 of British Journal of Photography. Much in the same vein, Just Pictures presents a cohort of photographers whose work belongs just as in museums as they do in fashion magazines and social media feeds. Photography Bryce Thomas. A look at “Just Pictures,” a new show curated by Antwaun Sargent. I wanted to know how you were able to build these relationships with these artists and creatives to create your own personal projects? Joshua Kissi is a Ghanian American from New York, Ruth Ossai’s family is from Nigeria, Mous Lamrabat’s family is from Africa, and Renell Medrano’s roots reach out to the Dominican Republic. I moved to New York after going to college at Georgetown studying politics, and I thought I would be a lawyer. Hundreds of people squeezed into Aperture Foundation to celebrate the release of Antwaun Sargent’s new photography book. Editing, Thoughts on the Nikon Z6 II for Wildlife Photography, Photographer Uses Drone to Capture Landscapes in an ‘Unfamiliar Light’. About the author: Phil Mistry is a photographer and teacher based in Atlanta, GA. I think that often we have these conversations in big cities. MAGAZINES. I’ve worked on both of them for about a year. In St. Louis, curator and author of book 'The New Black Vanguard' Antwaun Sargent has staged a photography show exploring genreless modes of photography At projects+gallery, St. Louis, critic, curator and author Antwaun Sargent has conceived an exhibition of young photographers who are turning their gazes to a new, genreless mode of photography This story was originally published in November 2019. Note: Just Pictures recently ended its showing in November at projects+gallery in St. Louis, MO. The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion by Antwaun Sargent Adrian Phillips Antwaun Sargent's lyrical new book explores the creativity and powerful sense of expression found in the work of Black photographers within the fashion and art worlds, and the influence that this new vitality has on contemporary visual media. What is the significance of your show being held in St. Louis? After that card became an industry standard, many color reference cards began to be known as “Shirley cards.” Joshua Kissi’s focus on how to properly light Black skin goes back to the history of that same Kodak card. I think that you can’t say that there is a problem with the art world and with the lack of diversity, the lack on inclusion, the racism, the sexism without looking at your own organizations, especially if you’re an organization who’s directly tied to our understand of art. So, when the gallery reached out and said ‘Would you want to do something in St. Louis,’ I said, absolutely. We spoke with a photographer and an astronaut who teamed up to bring you a book that looks at 20 years of the International Space Station, and were soothed by a glance at life among the caretakers of Britain's small islands. Styling Kevin Hunter. “These image-makers are not saying they are shooting fashion images or art images; they’re just shooting the images that they want to see in the world. Black photographers have had their work published in magazines, but this was an effort to show it as art worthy in the white cube’s confines of gallery walls. The Midwest has a really special place in my heart, but also just making sure that as we talk about art being for everyone it’s not just a platitude. Just Pictures was curated by art critic Antwaun Sargent, who worked for a year on this project.He is the author of the earlier The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion, published by Aperture Foundation in 2019. new yorker. In 2019, Sargent published The New Black Vanguard (2019), a book that explores what it means to be a contemporary young black photographer, creating work and thinking about blackness. Here he broke down boundaries that have persisted for long by showcasing the work of fifteen artists who meld the art and fashion genres with glowing portraits and conceptual images. Happy Birthday Regina Hall! Moodboard. He waxes poetic about posh parties with the likes of Thelma Golden and Mickalene Thomas, art … With the art world in flux, writer and critic Antwaun Sargent (The New Yorker, NY Times) joins us this week.We discuss the turbulence inside museums across the country (3:20), the potential (creative) silver-lining of this pandemic (7:44), the impetus for his new book, Young, Gifted and Black (11:00), and how Instagram (sort of) democratized photography (17:30). A book entitled The New Black Vanguard Photography Between Art and Fashion Signed Edition written by Antwaun Sargent, published by Aperture Direct which was released on 29 October 2019. The artists represented here were not just from the US but came from different places, including the African continent. About. Just Pictures was a follow up to The New Black Vanguard. Antwaun Sargent. The exhibition The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion, curated by Antwaun Sargent and featuring some of the images from the book, is on display at Aperture Gallery in New York until January 18, 2020. “The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion presents artists, whose vibrant portraits … ANTWAUN SARGENT. The featuring of the Black figure and Black runway and cover models in the media and art has been one marker of increasingly inclusive fashion and art communities. I think that there’s a lot of work to be done, and I think that we all have to do it. I have seen change. Just Pictures was definitely more than Just Pictures. Are you seeing any changes? The acclaimed New York-based curator and writer Antwaun Sargent discusses his recently published book The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion, with Pippa Oldfield, Head of Programme at Impressions Gallery.Programme as part of our Online Photobook Fair 2020. Justin Solomon experiments in shooting silhouettes of Black men in rapid succession. Download The New Black Vanguard Photography Between Art and Fashion Signed Edition Books now!Available in PDF, EPUB, Mobi Format. In celebration of the location, Sargent welcomed a modernistic crowd to take on his exhibit and introduce a new audience to a fresh crowd of young photographers. “They’re working in a way that I think is exciting and that should be seen everywhere.”, The exhibition, which ends on November 21st, is centered in a community where art may not be as celebrated when compared to larger cities like New York or Los Angeles. I wanted to think about the ways in which these images operate in commercial settings, but also in more conceptual settings. Celebrating a new wave of contemporary imagemakers, Antwaun Sargent’s new book features 15 of the best emerging photographers – all black, all brilliant – whose work comfortably straddles the line between art and fashion, and who are defining fresh perspectives on representation, beauty and the body. I really fell in love with art and the artists that I was meeting in the studios that I was going to and the museum shows, and I just said, “I want to be a part of that world. He was the director and teacher for Sony/Popular Photography magazine’s Digital Days Workshops. In The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion, curator and critic Antwaun Sargent addresses a radical transformation taking place in fashion and art today. As Sargent explains in his essay “The Future Will See You Now,” Black queer artists are using photography in defiance of the “straight imagination,” and in doing so, creating their own narratives of desire and relief. Photo: Kyle Dorosz. “A main component of the Barrett Barrera Projects mission is to bring innovative and enriching experiences to the St. Louis community, a very progressive city and especially for young artists and young artists of color.”. Roshan Ramesh. “Art is for everybody, so why can’t these shows take place in other places?”. It in some ways comes out of New Black Vanguard. ESSENCE: How have you been with all that is going on in the world? Antwaun Sargent, artist Shikeith, and others discuss the ways Black queer artists are redefining the notion of utopia. Sargent, who attended the School of Foreign Service and studied politics at Georgetown and was Hillary Clinton’s intern, is a leading voice in the arts, especially in photography. Sargent details the work from his latest exhibit, which closes on the 21st of this month. 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It’s a scarf, actually — Issey Miyake. “The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion” is a book by Antwuan Sargent, a writer and art critic, which features a series of photographs by 15 notable African American millennial image-makers. “Take Viola Davis on the cover of Vanity Fair (photographed by Dario Calmese) the other month. By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Antwaun Sargen’s new show, “Just Pictures,” features young Black photographer like Renell Medrano, and opened at projects+gallery in St. Louis on September 10. ESSENCE spoke to Sargent about hosting his exhibit in the Midwest, from where he drew his inspiration, and the work that still needs to be done. Written by Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Over the past few years, a number of young Black photographers have made their mark on the art world, and critic, writer and curator Antwaun Sargent has made it his mission to cement their legacies. 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