Lauren Henkin photographs, 2015 May

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Summary

Creator:
Henkin, Lauren, 1974-
Abstract:
The forty color inkjet photographs in this collection were taken by Lauren Henkin in May 2015 in and around Hale County, Alabama, part of the Alabama and Mississippi "Black Belt." The prints (17x22 inches) form part of a body of work titled "What's Lost is Found." Subjects include rural inhabitants, white and black; residences of all kinds, including many interiors; church exteriors and interiors; and rural and wooded landscapes, As part of the photographer's intent to capture the spirituality she perceived in the place and its people, captions for each image are taken from biblical verses. Collection includes five sheets with detailed captions and locations for each image. The Black Belt region is noted for its black topsoil, cotton plantations, the legacy of slavery, civil rights history, and photographic history: Walker Evans, Gordon Parks, and William Christenberry both produced some of their most well-known work in these same places. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.
Extent:
1.5 Linear Feet (1 box; 47 items)
Physical description:
40 photographic prints; 7 supplemental sheets
Language:
Materials in English.
Collection ID:
RL.11526

Background

Scope and content:

The forty color inkjet photographs in this collection were taken by Lauren Henkin in May 2015 in and around Hale County, Alabama, part of the Alabama and Mississippi "Black Belt." The prints (17x22 inches) form part of a body of work titled "What's Lost is Found." Subjects include rural inhabitants, white and black; house interiors; church exteriors and interiors; and rural and wooded landscapes. Many of the images contain religious symbols and objects such as crosses. As part of the photographer's intent to capture the spirituality she perceived in the place and its people, captions for each image are taken from biblical verses. Collection includes five sheets, also 17x22 inches, with detailed captions and locations for each image.

The Black Belt region is noted for its black topsoil, cotton plantations, the legacy of slavery, civil rights history, and photographic history: Walker Evans, Gordon Parks, and William Christenberry both produced some of their most well-known work in these same places.

From the artist's statement: "It wasn't a place that should be simplified by an imposed narrative. The people I met had a request, 'Please, no more photos of poor kids barefoot on a front porch.' I wanted to show the complexity of a place that could in one moment take the viewer into the woods, to the home of a man that lives with his dogs in the poorest of conditions to the grounds of a mansion covered in soft southern light, to the interior of a home populated with Andrew Wyeth reproductions depicting wind and billowing curtains. I wanted to avoid stereotypical perspectives on the racial and socioeconomic divides, and instead, focus on the interconnectedness between the landscape, the flesh, and the spiritual."

Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

Biographical / historical:

Born in Washington, D.C., artist Lauren Henkin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and now resides in Maine.

Henkin's work is focused on the tension between preservation and extinction — from fading relationships to invasive growths to material possessions — as told in the American vernacular.

Her work resides in over twenty institutional collections including the Cleveland Museum of Art, Portland Art Museum, Yale University, Smith College Museum of Art, and Brown University's Bell Gallery, among others. She is also the founder of Vela Noche, a publisher of handmade books and editions.

Henkin received the 2017 Duke University Archive of Documentary Arts Award for Southern Documentarians.

Acquisition information:
The Lauren Henkin photographs were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2017.
Processing information:

Processed and encoded by Paula Jeannet, October 2017.

Accession(s) described in this finding aid: 2017-0153.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

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

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

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], Lauren Henkin photographs, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.