In celebration of the NMWA exhibition Samantha Box: Confluences, which presents two major bodies of photography by the artist, learn about five artists in NMWA’s collection who utilize documentary photography to capture social, cultural, and political realities.
Samantha Box
Samantha Box (b. 1977, Kingston, Jamaica) is a Bronx-based artist. From 2005 to 2018, Box photographed the community of Sylvia’s Place, an emergency shelter for New York City’s unhoused LGBTQIA+ youth. In the series, “The INVISIBLE Archive,” Box worked to counteract the othering effect of documentation, instead capturing the resilience and vitality of these young people and their chosen families. The photographs also confront their vulnerable position in society.
1. Esther Bubley
Esther Bubley (1921–1998) was a freelance photographer whose first major series documented Washington, D.C., during World War II. Across her career, Bubley was hired or commissioned to create photo essays that told the stories of places and events. She often chose behind-the-scenes moments, such as backstage preparations for a beauty pageant or candid images of residents in small-town America, to capture life’s humorous yet elucidating moments.
2. Graciela Iturbide
Graciela Iturbide (b. 1942) is best known for her photographs that portray the people and cultures of her native Mexico. Iturbide captures the interplay of tradition and modernity as it shapes the everyday lives of her subjects. Cuatro Pescaditos (1986) is part of a commissioned project documenting the indigenous matriarchal community of Juchitán, Oaxaca, where Iturbide lived for six years.
3. Lola Álvarez Bravo
Lola Álvarez Bravo (1907–1993) candidly documented the everyday people of Mexico with honesty and respect. Her meticulous compositions also blurred the lines between fine art and photojournalism. They often include sharp details and a play of light and shadows. Álvarez Bravo stated: “To begin with, I find something that attracts me, then I immediately try to make it perfect in composition and light.”
4. Nikki S. Lee
Nikki S. Lee (b. 1970) interrogates personhood and assimilation in her works. In her series “Projects” (1997–2001), Lee immersed herself within sub-cultures across the United States, including yuppies, hip hop fans, and drag queens, and invited members of these communities to photograph her participating in the group. By positioning herself as the subject, Lee reveals how the self can be shaped by the community to which a person belongs. “I believe that it is only through my relationships with others that I can see myself,” she explains.
5. Mary Ellen Mark
Mary Ellen Mark (1940–2015) is known for her prolific documentary and portrait photographs. She traveled extensively and observed subjects on the fringes of society, such as circus performers, runaway children, and psychiatric patients, with sensitivity and compassion. Mark frequently focused on narratives of girlhood, and many of her images show her subjects navigating the complex experience of growing up as well as moments of carefree adolescence.