Black Women Photographers on What Carrie Mae Weems Means to Them
On this day in 1953, the one and only, Ms. Carrie Mae Weems was born in Portland, Oregon.
The Kitchen Table Series, 1990.
Today, and every day, we celebrate Ms. Weems for paving the way and being a constant source of inspiration - not only to our global community - but to all of you reading this piece now.
Ahead of her birthday, we asked some members of Black Women Photographers to share why they are inspired by Ms. Weems.
Join us by showing your appreciation and giving Ms. Weems her flowers with #CelebratingCMW — please tag us when you post!
We may or may not be giving a few more books away!
courtney coles:
“for over a decade, i have listed carrie mae weems as a major influence of mine. there was something serendipitous about being in art school in her hometown and finding out about her in what was a pivotal moment in my art-making and academic career. her poise, attention to detail, and penchant for storytelling are nothing short of inspiring. there are a few photographs of mine that are an homage to weems, but through the lens of a Black lesbian. using her work as a foundation, i have been able to build my own language around Black femininity and what it means to photograph and *be* photographed. i’m a student of carrie mae weems’ and am eternally grateful she paved the way for photographers like me."
Zakiyyah Woods:
"Carrie Mae Weems inspires me to speak through my lens from wherever my heart resides in the moments my creativity is activated. How I see my son, my community ,the world around me, myself: there is a tenderness in my work that I sometimes question because it does not flow with what is trending in our social media obsessed culture.
Every time I need a gentle pull back to my center, every time I have to remind myself that showing up authentically, adorned and unaltered to exist in spaces that I am both desired in and rejected from as a Black woman is a form of activism, I study the works of Ms. Weems.
One of my favorites being "The Louisiana Project." The moments when I come across similarities in some of my most personal work that is coincidentally reflected in Carrie Mae Weems' photo projects and self-portraits warmly affirms, like a favorite auntie would, that I am doing it (photography) right but that I could also be doing so much more to keep bringing to the foreground people and communities that are often pushed to the back or not included in the picture at all and to call into question how we continuously consume life.
Shavon Meyers:
“I own a copy of The Kitchen Table Series and have used Weems as one of my personal creative muses. Her ingenuity, vulnerability, creativity and pride in herself and her people allows photographers like myself to fearlessly center Black people and our Black experience in my photography and videography projects. Carrie Mae Weems continues to be an inspiration in my creative world.”
