PRESS: Louis Draper | hanging with mrbennette
" Somebody, somebody Lord !
Somebody, somebody Can anybody find me somebody to love? " Queen
This statement might seem strange to people of European decent but until very recently seeing images of non europeans in the American main stream was difficult at best and at the worst shameful.
We have to thank the thousands of minority photographers who had faith in their people,even if they could not move to center stage in the photographic world.
When I was growing up as a kid, I was starving to see people like me in magazines and books, television and movies. My aunt recently reminded me that my grandmother had the only television for blocks in the rural area I grew up in. I love looking at tv, I love magazines, but people who look like me never look out of that world to be a part of mine.
This is the reason I am quoting Queen's Somebody to Love, I wanted to see someone in that light like me but I digress. I am happy that Gordon Settinius of Candela Books + Gallery in Richmond Virginia will host the first retrospective exhibition of the mid-century African-American photographer, Louis Draper (1935-2002). Retrospective will showcase over 40 photographs spanning Draper’s career, from the late 1950s to 1990s. Primarily a street photographer, Draper’s archive has revealed an incredible range of artistic skill, including portraiture and abstraction, which will all be highlighted in the exhibition.
