When I saw the first picture in the Yancey Richardson exhibit, Somnyama Ngonyama, as soon as I walked into the gallery, it had a very different impact on me when compared to how I felt when I returned to the picture on having walked around the rooms. I feel like the realization of the models’ gaze, the correlation between thew images and objects used in each, and the general theme of the exhibition really settles in you heavily, as you walk from one image to another, each gradually leading to a tremendous build up of emotion.
The exhibit celebrates the physical beauty of African American women, and portrays them in a light that they are rarely allowed to stand in. You feel curious at first, and the overwhelmed by the gaze of the woman in the picture, her confidence, charisma, and sense of control. I think my favourite photograph is the one of the woman lying down in bed and observing her own body with confidence, through a mirror, but also catching your eye in the reflection and challenging your gaze. the photographs draw you in and make the audience feel like they are intruding on intimate moments and scenes in the life of the woman.Her direct and bold gaze, in spite of her nakedness, makes it difficult to look at her. These photographs are absolutely breathtaking and celebrate th female form and challenge society’s perceptions of relations between women, particularly in the African society
Somnyama Ngonyama means “Hail, The Dark Lioness” and is a collection of self portraits. The exhibition helped me see connections between other exhibitions, artist’s works not only in his class but also in other classes. It was interesting to see her work, because I found myself comparing it to the kind of work I had come across whilst researching for Amateur photography in African Portraiture for my seminar class.It made me consider the similarities and differences her work had with that of other African photographers during that time, in terms of subject style, context, and even colours.
It also made compare her as an artist who work with self portraits to artists like Cindy Sherman, Samuel Fosso, Andy Warhol etcetra, and see how each artist uniquely tackles the challenge of self portraiture, and inspired me to come up with my theme, concept and form for the next project for this class.
.
