Jim, if you choose to accept..., 1988—1989 - Carrie Mae Weems

With the pitch and timbre of an accomplished storyteller, Carrie Mae Weems examines issues of race, gender politics, and African-American identity in her photography. First picking up the camera for political rather than artistic purposes, Weems studied at the Studio Museum in Harlem in the 1970s with contemporaries Frank Stewart and Coreen Simpson. Weems uses her personal biography in combination with racist and misogynistic jokes, songs, and rebukes to stake claim to the narrative of an ordinary black woman in America. The recipient of a number of awards, Weems has been a visiting professor at both Harvard University and Wellesley College.Read Less