“Ray Francis championed the Kamoinge Workshop as a fine art collective at a time when photography was seen as a lesser form; it was Ray who, through his knowledge and generosity, allowed us to see ourselves and our work as “art” within the realm of the masters in Western art history.”
– Herb Robinson, member of the Kamoinge Workshop.
Bruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to announce Waiting to be Seen: Illuminating the Photographs of Ray Francis, the first-ever exhibition of works by James Ray Francis. A photographer and educator who served as an editor of The Black Photographer’s Annual, Francis, alongside Louis Draper, was responsible for the early formation of The Kamoinge Workshop. Featuring a selection of over thirty never-before-seen early vintage prints taken between 1950-90, this exhibition curated by Milly Cai, considers the role of the camera and photography in creating a new black visual culture during a period characterized by activism and the struggle for equality. Questioning the monolithic canon of Western Art History, Ray Francis situates himself as having a rightful place within this lineage of greats, highlighting the complex, multidimensional qualities of the black artistic experience, one not limited to Western perceptions of “black art.” Inspired by Johannes Vermeer, his work evokes the style of Dutch golden-age genre painting with a subtle interplay of light and shadow and balanced, careful compositions; Francis creates a sense of intimacy and narrative ambiguity in his photographs. Francis taught photography classes at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, The Bedstuy Neighborhood Youth Corps, and was a Director of the Harlem School District, where he inspired a generation of young artists; his contributions to The Kamoinge Workshop and early interest in the reinterpretation of old masters can be seen as a precedent for the work of contemporary photographers like Yasumasa Morimura, Nina Katchadourian, and Carrie Mae Weems.
