Let Your Motto Be Resistance April 9, 2010

This exhibit explores the history of African American achievement from the mid-nineteenth century to the present through the changing roles of photographic portraiture. Starting with portraits from the mid-nineteenth century, the exhibition explores ways the sitters collaborated with photographers to create positive images and challenge demeaning stereotypes, and in the process shows how people demonstrated their "resistance" to the predominantly negative representations of African Americans circulating in American mainstream culture. The 100 photographs in the exhibition, many by noted photographers, portray distinguished subjects, establish a sense of place and identity, and explore both aesthetic and vernacular styles.