ARTISTS
Judy Dater: Poets, Prophets and Pioneers
When Judy Dater was invited to photograph the Black philosopher and activist Angela Davis, she set up her large-format camera and waited. Davis was supposed to speak at a Loyola Marymount University event, but her plane was delayed. With minutes to spare before her lecture was scheduled to start, Davis arrived and graciously took a seat in front of Dater. The time required to expose a large format negative meant that Dater could take only a couple of pictures, far fewer than she would typically make to achieve the psychologically acute and aesthetically sophisticated portraits for which she is famous. 鈥淚 decided to take a chance,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淔or my last shot I told her I was going to close my eyes and she could give me whatever expression she wanted. She smiled, completely relaxed. For me it turned out to be her best pose and photograph.鈥�
The trust and rapport that Dater establishes between her and her subjects are essential to Dater鈥檚 oeuvre. Since the 1960s, Dater has taken some of the most sensitive formal portraits of her age, focusing her lens on subjects both famous and anonymous with an equal degree of empathetic respect.
In celebration of Black History Month, Modernism is pleased to present a preview of Dater鈥檚 most recent and ongoing portrait series, in which she depicts Black intellectuals ranging from the eminent Angela Davis and Wole Soyinka to San Francisco鈥檚 44-year-old poet laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin.
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When Judy Dater was invited to photograph the Black philosopher and activist Angela Davis, she set up her large-format camera and waited. Davis was supposed to speak at a Loyola Marymount University event, but her plane was delayed. With minutes to spare before her lecture was scheduled to start, Davis arrived and graciously took a seat in front of Dater. The time required to expose a large format negative meant that Dater could take only a couple of pictures, far fewer than she would typically make to achieve the psychologically acute and aesthetically sophisticated portraits for which she is famous. 鈥淚 decided to take a chance,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淔or my last shot I told her I was going to close my eyes and she could give me whatever expression she wanted. She smiled, completely relaxed. For me it turned out to be her best pose and photograph.鈥�
The trust and rapport that Dater establishes between her and her subjects are essential to Dater鈥檚 oeuvre. Since the 1960s, Dater has taken some of the most sensitive formal portraits of her age, focusing her lens on subjects both famous and anonymous with an equal degree of empathetic respect.
In celebration of Black History Month, Modernism is pleased to present a preview of Dater鈥檚 most recent and ongoing portrait series, in which she depicts Black intellectuals ranging from the eminent Angela Davis and Wole Soyinka to San Francisco鈥檚 44-year-old poet laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin.
Artists on show
