Black Photojournalism

New York City has always been a hotbed for documentary photography. In the final episode of this podcast, we hear from four members of the illustrious Kamoigne Workshop–Ming Smith, Adger Cowans, Shawn Walker, and Anthony Barboza–speaking about their more than six decades of experience. Marilyn Nance also talks about her time working in the city as well as a trip to Lagos, Nigeria in 1972 to cover FESTAC, a world festival of Black and African arts and culture. —Ming Smith (b. 1947, Detroit, MI), America Seen Through Stars and Stripes, New York City, NY (detail), ca. 1973, gelatin silver print, 8 5/8 × 12 1/2 in. (21.6 × 31.8 cm), Carnegie Museum of Art, Margaret M. Vance Fund, 2017.19.5

John H. Johnson and his wife Eunice printed the first issue of EBONY magazine, one of the most influential Black publications in history, in November 1945. This episode features stories about the Johnson Publishing Company as told by their daughter, Linda Johnson Rice. We also hear from two artists, David Hartt and Theaster Gates, about the influence of the magazine on their work and the ways in which its archive continues to resonate. —unidentified photographer; “Ebony Fashion Fair, American Airlines stewardess, Jacquelyn Neely, models youthfully shaped horizontal-striped dress in shades of blue wool designed by Jean-Marie Armand.” (detail), 1972, gelatin silver print, 10 x 8 in. (25.4 x 20.3 cm); Documentary Arts, Inc.; © Alan Govenar; photo: Courtesy Documentary Arts and The Texas African American Photography Archive

This episode covers a broad swath of the American South ranging from the work of Ernest Withers in Memphis, Tennessee as discussed by his daughter Rosalind Withers, to Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas where Bob Ray Sanders and Norma Adams Wade talk about their extensive experiences working in the newspaper business. —Image Credit: Ernest C. Withers (b. 1922, Memphis, TN; d. 2007, Memphis, TN), Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rev. Ralph David Abernathy ride on one of the first desegregated buses, Montgomery, AL, 1956, printed 1994, gelatin silver print, 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm), Carnegie Museum of Art,  The Henry L. Hillman Fund, 2025.7.9

There are two different stories in this episode—the first is rooted in Southern California, where Bruce Talamon got his start photographing the legends of R&B and soul in the 70s and 80s. The other takes us further north, in and around Oakland, where filmmaker Stanley Nelson documented the Black Panthers as they became their own image-makers, using the power of art and design to build a movement. —Cover photo: Bruce Talamon(b. 1949, Los Angeles, CA), Jackson supporters during his speech to the 1984 Democratic Convention, San Francisco, July 18, 1984chromogenic print, 11 × 17 in.  (27.9 × 43.2 cm)Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC

In this episode, photographer Clinton Wright talks about what it was like to move to and photograph Las Vegas in the 1960s and 70s, a time when many casinos were still segregated. Aaron Mayes and Claytee White, who work with Wright’s archive at the UNLV Libraries Special Collection help situate these photographs within the historical context of Civil Rights activism in Las Vegas.  —Cover Image: Clinton Wright (b. 1940, Altheimer, AR), Cosmetiques campaign rally at Moulin Rouge, 1970, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, University Libraries, Special Collection and Archives

Dr. Frances “Toni” Murphy Draper and artist Savannah Wood talk about the history of Baltimore’s AFRO American Newspaper and their family’s ownership of the paper that dates back five generations to 1892. Today, the AFRO holds more than three million photographs in its archive which it is seeking to make public in a new visitor center in the Upton neighborhood.   —Image: unidentified photographer, “Surrounded by excited AFRO newsies, Mayor McKeldin pauses in front of the AFRO building, Friday, while he and Miss Florence L. Murphy, Clean Block director, look over the route of the clean block tour of the city.,” 1946, Collection of The AFRO-American Newspapers Archives

In the first episode, artist Hank Willis Thomas talks about growing up in a household that hosted numerous Black photojournalists and how that influenced his practice. Host Mark Whitaker and Charlene Foggie-Barnett, community archivist for the Charles “Teenie” Harris archive, discuss their personal connections to Pittsburgh and the rich Black history of the city.