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01. Anthony Barboza, Shawn Walker, International Black Photographers Annual, 1973. A man in a patterned shirt flips through a stack of photographs on a white table.

01. Anthony Barboza, Shawn Walker, International Black Photographers Annual, 1973

02. Anthony Barboza, My Studio, 10 West 18th Street, NYC, 1970s. Wide shot of a studio space with prints all over the two visible walls.

02. Anthony Barboza, My Studio, 10 West 18th Street, NYC, 1970s

03. Anthony Barboza, Beuford Smith, First Black Photographers Annual Meeting, NYC, ​1970s. Torso of a seated man in a checked shirt wearing glasses and a hat, one hand held to his face.

03. Anthony Barboza, Beuford Smith, First Black Photographers Annual Meeting, NYC, 1970s

04. Anthony Barboza, Toukie Smith, ​1980s. Model stands in a draping, graphic, hooded garment with one arm above her head and one raised to her face.

04. Anthony Barboza, Toukie Smith, 1980s

05. Anthony Barboza, Iman, ​1970s. Full body portrait against reflective background. Model stands in a swimsuit with one hand at her hip and one holding a mirror to her face.

05. Anthony Barboza, Iman, 1970s

06. Anthony Barboza, Roberta Flack, singer, for Essence Magazine, ​1970s. Close up of the singer's dimly-lit face facing slightly to the right, with eyes closed and lips slightly parted.

06. Anthony Barboza, Roberta Flack, singer, for Essence Magazine, 1970s

07. Anthony Barboza, Grace Jones, ​1970s. Close up of the model's dimly-lit face, eyes looking to the camera and lips slightly parted.

07. Anthony Barboza, Grace Jones, 1970s

08. Anthony Barboza, Lou Draper, ​1970s. Dimly lit torso of a man facing left and holding a camera at chest-level.

08. Anthony Barboza, Lou Draper, 1970s

09. Anthony Barboza, Harlem, NY, ​1970. A man standing on the sidewalk with hands in a long coat. He wears a white hat, body facing the right with his face turned left.

09. Anthony Barboza, Harlem, NY, 1970

10. Anthony Barboza, Harlem, NY, ​1970s. Sharply-dressed couple in a dress and suit standing at a building entrance.

10. Anthony Barboza, Harlem, NY, 1970s

11. Anthony Barboza, Coney Island, NY, 1970s. A group of young people socializing by a parked car. The central figure looks to the camera in a white t-shirt with hands in her back shorts pockets.

11. Anthony Barboza, Coney Island, NY, 1970s

12. Anthony Barboza, Coney Island, NY, 1970s. Crowd of people. Central figure is a man in overalls with back to the camera. He holds one woman's hand while embracing another.

12. Anthony Barboza, Coney Island, NY, 1970s

13. Anthony Barboza, Central Park, NY, ​1970s. A woman seated on a park bench holds a piece of paper to cover her face.

13. Anthony Barboza, Central Park, NY, 1970s

14. Anthony Barboza, Jacksonville, Florida, ​1960s. Two young girls stand side by side, the taller one has her right arm around the other. Both look to the camera; the smaller child is smiling.

14. Anthony Barboza, Jacksonville, Florida, 1960s

15. Anthony Barboza, NYC, 1970s. Motion-blurred close up of a subway window; two figures can be perceived on the left and right of the frame.

15. Anthony Barboza, NYC, 1970s

16. Anthony Barboza, NYC, 1970s. A dark vehicle fills the right of the frame. A man in a white shirt walks on the sidewalk while a young boy rides a tricycle in front of him.

16. Anthony Barboza, NYC, 1970s

17. Anthony Barboza, Coney Island, NY, ​1970s. Three figures gathered on the left of the frame. Cars and string lights are out of focus in the street behind them.

17. Anthony Barboza, Coney Island, NY, 1970s

18. Anthony Barboza, Coney Island, ​1970s. A carnival swing in motion, photographed from below. The two closest riders hold hands.

18. Anthony Barboza, Coney Island, 1970s

19. Shawn Walker, Drugs, Essence Magazine, ​1960s. Very dark photograph of a hand holding a small, opened packet of white powder.

19. Shawn Walker, Drugs, Essence Magazine, 1960s

20. Shawn Walker, Drugs, Essence Magazine, ​1960s. Close up of a hand holding a needle to the opposite arm.

20. Shawn Walker, Drugs, Essence Magazine, 1960s

21. Shawn Walker, Halloween, Brooklyn, ​1960s. Figure in a draping white ghost costume faces the camera holding a trick-or-treat bag. Background is completely black.

21. Shawn Walker, Halloween, Brooklyn, 1960s

22. Shawn Walker, Untitled, ​c. 1965. Man in a jacket and hat carries an American flag, facing away from the photographer.

22. Shawn Walker, Untitled, c. 1965

23. Shawn Walker, HarYourAct, ​1963. A group of six children stand behind a horse-drawn carriage in the foreground. The background is a graffiti-covered brick wall.

23. Shawn Walker, HarYourAct, 1963

24. Shawn Walker, Harlem, 117th Street, ​1960s. A young boy in a hat and striped shirt and dark jacket looks up to the photographer with mouth open.

24. Shawn Walker, Harlem, 117th Street, 1960s

25. Shawn Walker, Untitled, ​c. 1970. A man stands in a white sailor's uniform with one hand at his hip.

25. Shawn Walker, Untitled, c. 1970

26. Beuford Smith, NO and KEEP OFF, Harlem, ​1982. A building stoop with "No sitting" and "Keep off" written on alternating steps.

26. Beuford Smith, NO and KEEP OFF, Harlem, 1982

27. Beuford Smith, Harlem, NY, ​n.d. Window display of "Elizabeth's Flower Shop" with various floral arrangements on offer.

27. Beuford Smith, Harlem, NY, n.d.

28. Beuford Smith, Two Buttons, ​n.d. Close up of one hand holding the opposite wrist behind a suited man's back.

28. Beuford Smith, Two Buttons, n.d.

29. Beuford Smith, Boy in Street, Brooklyn, 1969. A young boy in suspenders stand with hands on hips on wet pavement, looking to the left of the frame.

29. Beuford Smith, Boy in Street, Brooklyn, 1969

30. Beuford Smith, Say Man, Harlem, ​1969. A car parked on the street that reads "Say Man" and "Bo Diddley and Company". Figures gathered on the sidewalk behind.

30. Beuford Smith, Say Man, Harlem, 1969

31. Beuford Smith, Harlem Children, Easter Sunday, ​1965. Seven children lined up on a stoop; a smiling woman holding an umbrella stands in the lower left of the frame.

31. Beuford Smith, Harlem Children, Easter Sunday, 1965

32. Beuford Smith, I Have a Dream: The Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., April 5, 1968. Five photographs mounted on white board. Features a church, a man leaning against a mailbox, a line of police officers, a wreath with MLK's portrait in the center, and a woman wearing a pin with "Poor Peoples Campaign" and MLK's portrait on it.

32. Beuford Smith, I Have a Dream: The Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., April 5, 1968

33. Beuford Smith, I Have a Dream: The Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., April 5, 1968. Four photographs mounted on white board. Features a man being arrested, a young man crying, a man wearing a jacket that reads "Keep the faith, baby," and a figure silhouetted against clouds of smoke.

33. Beuford Smith, I Have a Dream: The Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., April 5, 1968

34. Beuford Smith, Boy & Doll, Lower East Side, NYC, ​1966. A young boy sits on the sidewalk with most of his body covered by some sort of cloth; a broken doll and other trash is on the street in front of him at the bottom of the frame.

34. Beuford Smith, Boy & Doll, Lower East Side, NYC, 1966

35. Beuford Smith, Three Girls, Bronx, 1968. Three girls in white dresses seated on a bench. From left to right, one has a hand to her mouth, the next has hands covering her eyes, the last has one hand covering an ear.

35. Beuford Smith, Three Girls, Bronx, 1968

36. Beuford Smith, Boy with Umbrella, ​1973. A young boy holds a broken umbrella, with only wires remaining, above his head.

36. Beuford Smith, Boy with Umbrella, 1973

37. Beuford Smith, Untitled, ​c. 1970. Motion-blurred, dark image of the lower body of a boy jumping over a puddle.

37. Beuford Smith, Untitled, c. 1970

Press Release

Keith de Lellis Gallery presents the work of three early Kamoinge photographers for this winter exhibition. The name “Kamoinge” comes from the Kikuyu language of Kenya and means a group of people acting together. The Kamoinge mission statement: To HONOR, document, preserve, and represent the history and culture of the African Diaspora with integrity and respect for humanity through the lens of Black photographers.” (Kamoinge.com).

 

Beginning in 1963 and continuing into the present day, Anthony Barboza (b. 1944 New Bedford, MA) has enjoyed a long career in photography, capturing his subjects both on the street and in the studio. Perhaps best known for his photographs of singers and jazz musicians in the 1970s and '80s, Barboza's subjects span a wide range, from high-profile celebrities to anonymous children on the street of New York City.  Barboza's photographs have appeared in numerous publications, including The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, LIFE Magazine, and Vogue. In the early days of Barboza's interest in photography, he was introduced to Kamoinge, and served as president of the organization from 2005–2016.

 

Founder of Cesaire Photo Agency and cofounder of the Black Photographer's Annual, Beuford Smith (American, b. 1941) has enjoyed a diverse and celebrated career in image-making. His clients include Black Star, AT&T, Emory University, Merrill Lynch, Avon, and GE. He received a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in 1990 and 2000, a Light Work Artist-in-Residence Fellowship in 1999, and an Aaron Siskind Foundation Fellowship in 1998. Smith was a founding member, and later served as president, of Kamoinge. Among Smith's work is an emotional set of photographs exploring the Black community's anguish the day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Harlem native Shawn Walker (American, b. 1940) was invited to Kamoinge in 1963, having been interested in photography since childhood. “I knew this was going to be a life-saving event for me. I was the youngest and least knowledgeable in the group. [Kamoinge members] Louis Draper and Adger Cowans had degrees in art. I was a high school dropout, but fortunately, I had been exposed to stuff so I wasn’t out of my league. It was a mentor/big brother kind of thing. You always had somebody to talk to. That’s a rare thing. Imagine having 12 guys you could rely on for information,” Walker says (Document Journal). Walker has taught photography for decades now, first at Queensboro College, then York College, and finally Columbia University Teacher’s College. At the beginning of 2020, his archive of nearly 100,000 photographs, negatives, and transparencies was acquired by the Library of Congress.

 

The photographs of these three distinguished artists can be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the New York Public Library, Princeton University, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, and more.

 

This exhibition will be on view at the Keith de Lellis Gallery through February 2021.