Akea Brionne Brown photographs, 2016-2018

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Summary

Creator:
Brown, Akea Brionne, 1996-
Abstract:
These thirty-three color inkjet portraits are from the body of work "Black Picket Fences" by Akea Brionne Brown, and explore the life of middle-class African Americans in the suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland. Taken in part to confront stereotypes of African American neighborhoods and majority black American cities as dangerous and violent, the images chiefly portray family groups and individuals in interiors of homes and in outside environments such as front yards. The majority of the prints measure 19 3/8 x 24 inches. This work received the 2018 ADA Award for Documentarians of Color. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.
Extent:
2.5 Linear Feet (2 boxes)
Language:
Materials in English
Collection ID:
RL.11693

Background

Scope and content:

These thirty-three color inkjet photographs are from the body of work "Black Picket Fences" by Akea Brionne Brown and explore the lives of middle-class African Americans in the suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland. Taken in part to confront stereotypes of African American neighborhoods and majority black American cities as dangerous and violent, the images chiefly portray family groups and individuals in interiors of homes and in outside environments such as front yards and streets. The majority of the prints measure 19 3/8 x 24 inches. Two are sized slightly smaller at 15 3/4 x 20 3/4 and 15 x 20 1/4 inches.

The prints are accompanied by the artist's statement, in which she writes: "The project manifested through my own personal critique and observation of the suburban landscape as an ideologically 'white space.' I began to consider the importance of representation and exposure in relation to the formation of black identity, the performativity of blackness, and the ways in which the home transforms into a place of familiarity and/or unfamiliarity depending on who enters the space. In turn, this body of work aims to highlight an often overlooked group in contemporary American culture: the black, suburban middle class."

This work received the 2018 ADA Collection Award for Documentarians of Color. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

Biographical / historical:

Akea Brionne Brown's work explores the implications of historical racial and social structures in relation to the development of contemporary black life and identity within America.

She received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, in the dual degree program of Photography and Integrated Humanistic Studies in 2018. Akea is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana and currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland.

Brown received the 2018 Archive of Documentary Arts Collection Award for Documentarians of Color.

Acquisition information:
The Akea Brionne Brown photographs were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2018.
Processing information:

Processed and described by Edward Coles, Paula Jeannet, and Alanna Styer, January 2019.

Accession(s) described in this collection guide: 2018-0183.

Arrangement:

The prints are rranged in original order as assigned by the photographer.

Physical facet:
33 prints
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Images may only be used for educational, non-commercial purposes; any other use requires the photographer's permission.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Akea Brionne Brown photographs, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.