Chester Higgins (born 1946 in Lexington, Kentucky) has worked as a New York Times staff photographer since 1975 and has exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the world. Higgins is the author of several books including Black Women (1970), Drums of Life (1974), Some Time Ago: A Historical Portrait of Black America from 1850 to 1950 (1980), Feeling the Spirit: Searching the World for the People of Africa (1994), Elder Grace: The Nobility of Aging (2000), Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on the Nile (2012), and his memoir, Echo of the Spirit (2004). The Chester Higgins artist file consists of an extensive curriculum vitae (2008), postcards of selected photographs, announcements and invitations to his solo exhibitions (1974, 1990–2012), and a press kit for the exhibition “Invoking the Spirit: Worship Traditions in the African World”, which was on view at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Also in the file are announcements to his lectures; copies of his weekly column, “Lens”, which was published in The New York Times (1992, 2006); reviews of two of his books; a sales blad for Feeling the Spirit; and a calendar and teacher’s resource manual for his book Elder Grace. Articles featuring his photographs in The New York Times Magazine” and a variety of other magazines complete the collection (1990–2007).
Photographers capture the essence of a person or a happening, convey the emotion of a time period, and record historical meaning in a moment. Noted photographer, author, and visual artist, Chester Higgins, looks for the marriage between nature and life, capturing the soul of a people, and the brilliance of a community, the world over, among the African diaspora from New York City to the Sacred Nile. As a New York Times staff photographer for many years, Higgins’ work represents the lens of an artist who has had a front row seat in capturing events, geography, community, and performance, resulting in a lifetime of a rich and varied body of work. This is evident in his photo essay books, archived photographs at the New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and in exhibits in galleries and museums. Here is an interview with Mr. Higgins, in the spotlight for Black History Month.
