This is my third day in Los Angeles and I decided to spend my time in downtown LA. I started my morning by doing a fashion shoot with the lovely Angeli Macc (IG: @angeli_macc). This is the second model I’ve worked with in LA and it was a awesome experience. Initially we wanted to do the photoshoots at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, but they were close. We decided to stay downtown and make the most of this experience.
Raw File - Sony A7iii - ISO 160 f/ 2.8 1/400
After the photoshoot I went to The Broad. The Broad is a contemporary art museum on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. At the museum, I got tickets to see SOUL OF A NATION: ART IN THE AGE OF BLACK POWER 1963-1983. (BTW: Tickets to the museum is free. The “Soul of a Nation” exhibit is $18. I suggest registering for your tickets two weeks in advance.) Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power shines a bright light on the vital contribution of Black artists made over two decades, beginning in 1963 at the height of the civil rights movement. Prior to this experience, I wasn’t privy to how to the impact black artist had in depicting and telling the stories of the African American experience. Two of my favorite artist were Barkley Hendricks and Roy Decarava. Barkley Hendricks is a painter and photographer best known for his realist and post-modern portraits of people of color living in urban areas. Roy Decarava critical acclaim for his photography, initially engaging and imaging the lives of African Americans and jazz musicians in the communities where he lived and worked.
“The title image of the "Soul of a Nation" exhibition at London's Tate Modern is a bold, life-size portrait. Barkley Hendricks has painted himself into the picture, naked from the waist down, calm and almost nonchalant. His Superman t-shirt recalls a quote made by Black Panther founder Bobby Seale, who once declared in court: "We're hip to the fact that Superman never saved no black people."
Coltrane on soprano, 1963. Photograph by Roy DeCarava(c) Estate of Roy DeCarava 2017. All Rights Reserved.
After Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, I went upstairs to experience the rest of the art the museum had to offer. I spent about 3 hours at the museum and that wasn’t enough. Without giving too much away, I’ll share some of the photos I capture while I was there and I highly encourage anyone in the LA area to check it out.
