Somethin’ else, somethin’ tender is an exploration of the act of seeing and being seen at the intersection and frequency of love, care and rebellion. The featured artists have collaborated with their communities to create bodies of works that invoke what it means to radically care for the people you are imaging, in relationship with and valuing their humanity without judgement.
Following the throughlines of contemporary photographers such as Dawoud Bey, Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, and Deana Lawson you will find that each of their compositional choices call you to investigate your personal relationship with the Black gaze. One that
Tina Campt states, “I must insist that we all embrace this discomfort of a black gaze that demands we transform this discomfort into something different - something reparative and restorative that values the labor of Black women and Black motherhood in the creation of reparative and regenerative black futures.”
It is here that we understand the photographic exchange is merely evidence of a larger cosmic happening of mutual respect, even when the gaze is refused. It is here that the photographer becomes just as much a part of the experience of seeing and also mirroring parts of themselves in those they engage with.
Somethin’ else, somethin’ tender fills the silences of the archives with a sweet melody, a low hum from the echoes of deep belly laughter, the buzz of the southern cicadas. All while holding close in plain sight what can only be explained by mutual invitation.
Featured Artists: Stephanie Brown, Makeda Lewis, Keamber Pearson and Jeremiah Thomas
