Chester Higgins Jr., Early Morning Coffee, Harlem, 1974, Gelatin silver print.
Putting the Nation Back in the National Gallery: Speaking of NGA, the museum continues its quest to diversify its collection to better showcase that country it calls home. The Gallery has recently acquired eight works by four contemporary Black photographers: Adger Cowans, Chester Higgins Jr., Herman Howard, and Herb Robinson. Each is notable for their efforts to document their Black communities during the civil rights movement. Cowans, Howard, and Robinson were part of the Kamoinge Workshop. Formed in 1963, the group of Black photographers not only studied together, they also shared their work and ideas. Higgins began photographing friends, family, and civil rights protests during his time studying at Alabama’s Tuskegee University. Known for documenting Harlem’s Black community and its spiritual connections to the African diaspora, Higgins worked as a staff photographer for the New York Times from 1975 to 2014.
