The Black Female Body: A Photographic History

About this book

Searching for photographic images of black women Deborah Willis and Carla Williams were startled to find them by the hundreds. In long-forgotten books in art museums in European and US archives and private collections a hidden history of representation awaited discovery. The Black Female Body offers a stunning array of familiar and many virtually unknown photographs. Willis and Williams show how photographs reflected Western cultures fascination with black womens bodies reinforcing beliefs about racial differences and hierarchies. The authors also show how the powerful images created by twentieth-century photographers increasingly challenged these false beliefs.