Award-winning photographer Namsa Leuba points to her Swiss Guinean heritage as inspiration for a practice that takes her around the globe making images that she calls ‘documentary fictions.’ A standout in Aperture’s eye-poppingly vibrant show of fashion-related photography, ‘The New Black Vanguard,’ curated by Antwaun Sargent, Leuba’s work illustrates the show’s desire to show off ‘new perspectives…on race and beauty, gender and power.’ (On view in Chelsea through Jan 18th).
Jamal Nxedlana’s portrait of South African stylist Bee Diamondhead leaps off the wall in Aperture Gallery’s ‘Summer Open,’ offering a tantalizing glimpse of South Africa’s fashion elite. (On view in Chelsea through August 16th).
Aperture’s exhibition ‘Tiny: Streetwise Revisited’ is a fascinating glimpse into the life of Tiny, the petite Seattle teen memorably photographed in 1983 by Mary Ellen Mark for Life magazine and filmed by her filmmaker husband Martin Bell for his 1984 documentary Streetwise. As a young woman in this photo, she dreams of having riches and a family of 10 kids. In the exhibition, Mark follows Tiny as she fulfills her second wish as poverty and addiction define her life. (In Chelsea through June 30th).
If Dunkin’ Donuts used this image by Beth Galton in their advertising, I’d buy. Would you? (Though it is reminiscent of the anti-obesity ads on the subway…) (At Aperture Foundation in Chelsea through August 15th.)
Beth Galton, Coffee and Donut; from the series Cut Food, 2012.
