Lainey Koch
Photographer and visual artist Nona Faustine's work focuses on history, identity, and representation. Born and raised in New York, Faustine has used the landscape around her to uncover and represent history that has been otherwise ignored.
In her series White Shoes, Nona Faustine explores centuries of slave trade that occurred in the United States. Using the landscape of New York, she reminds viewers that slavery wasn't just an evil concept from the south.
“Of
My Body I Will Make Monuments In Your Honor” Pre-Revolutionary cemetery in
Brooklyn
The images of White Shoes evoke a sense of vulnerability within the viewer, as Faustine poses for these images in public spaces wearing nothing more than a pair of white high heels. The shoes symbolize the inescapable white patriarchy.
“Over
My Dead Body” New York City Hall
She chooses landscapes intentionally for their historical significance. Many of the locations Faustine chose were formerly sites of slave trade.
“From
Her Body Sprang Their Greatest Wealth” Site of Colonial Slave Market, Wall
Street
In examining the history of these locations, she's exploring a history that isn't represented by public monuments in the United States. Faustine mentions that US history is notorious for displaying only a "one sided history" - the history of white men.
“Like a Pregnant Corpse The Ship Expelled
Her Into The Patriarchy” Atlantic Coast, Brooklyn
My reaction to these photos was very emotional. I thought it was interesting that White Shoes was capturing a very ephemeral performance piece. The fact that the artist would actually stand nude in these urban public spaces and the minimal (if any) editing added a very raw sense of vulnerability to the photographs. Faustine is reclaiming the spaces she inhabits in her photographs, also exposing an evil side of history that many don't consider when traveling through the areas she's documenting.
Question: Do you think media other than film and photography would be able to properly represent the concepts Nona Faustine is exploring? Why or why not?
*
ReplyDelete