Myra Greene: My White Friends

I have been working on a jigsaw puzzle (see post from 5/27—but I am almost done! so close now!), and while I do that, I listen to podcasts. Today I listened to Scene on Radio, from Duke University's Center for Documentary Studies: one episode in an exploration of whiteness (and hence racist thought) in America, another on just who the Founding Fathers were anyway. Let's just say, democracy was not at the forefront of their thinking (the first episode of season 4, The Land That Never Has Been Yet, is titled "Rich Man's Revolt" . . . yeah, that's what American independence was about . . . maybe things haven't changed all that much).

The Seeing White (season 2) episode I listened to, "My White Friends," featured a Black photographer and artist, Myra Greene, making photos of—you guessed it—some of her white friends, of which she has many. The project (2007–2013) was a teasing out of stereotypes, of racial identity, of perceptions and assumptions. I really enjoyed listening to her, and wanted to share her work and ideas here. Here are some of the photos in the project:

Here is Myra's artist statement on the series of fifty photos: "My White Friends extends Myra Greene’s 10-year exploration into photography’s description of race. Images initially read as benign portraits of a cross section of white American life, yet the impetus for their creation lies in an undercurrent of racial description. By photographing friends, peers, and mentors, Greene visually ponders if photography can capture and describe the nuances of whiteness. Do gesture and environment allude to a lived truth, a performance by the sitter, or stereotype implored by the photographer herself? These photographs offer descriptions instead of resolutions. Readers charged with dissecting coded information, are confronted with their own notions of race."

Here is a New York Times "Lens" blog post about her project.

Another project is called "Character Recognition" (2006–2007). Here are some shots from that one.

Her statement on her web page: "Confronted with an upswell of bigotry both personal and public, I was forced to ask myself, what do people see when they look at me. Am I nothing but black? Is that skin tone enough to describe my nature and expectation in life? Do my strong teeth make me a strong worker? Does my character resonate louder than my skin tone? Using a photographic process linked to the times of ethnographic classification, I repeatedly explore my ethnic features in Character Recognition. The lessons learned are haunting and frightening in these modern times."

And here she is giving an artist talk at the Center for Documentary Studies on these projects. It's worth watching. (The photo in the frame is not Myra.)

Her website brings us up to date on her artistic endeavors. It's a nice place to hang out.

The more I listen to these podcasts and learn about our cursèd history, the more engaged I feel with this country. Christopher Columbus was beheaded and tossed into the sea today, several times over! Bravo! Slave traders are being toppled, Confederate soldiers and generals brought down! Though of course, I wouldn't be here without Christopher Columbus—or someone like him. Learning about history and then thinking about what's going on today is mind-blowing. Literally. I am very happy to see the changes that are being wrought. I just hope they continue. Five months (until the hoped-for bring-down of "President" Trump) is a long time . . .

And finally, just as I was about to publish this, I spotted the following Bestseller list on the New York Times: 

 
Not a single book on weight loss, time management, or self-improvement—unless you consider becoming more woke self-improvement. Which I sure do.

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Today's numbers for Covid-19 in Monterey County: 791 confirmed cases (up 29 since yesterday, 40 since I last posted two days ago); 79 hospitalizations (up 4 and 5, respectively); and 11 deaths (up 1, sadly).

Stay healthy. Keep learning. This is the only life you've got.