Ode to Nina Mae McKinney, Dorothy Dandridge, and Lena Horne
Digital C-Print
30" x 40"
Pomp and Circumstance: First Time To Be Adults, focuses on high school Proms as one of the few remaining rite of passage rituals in American society. I am interested in the expression of identity during the prom, and the tradition of portraiture that documents this moment, as a rite of passage. I am also interested in how the tradition of portraiture affects our ideas about identity, community and history. I am curious about where the prom portrait fits into that tradition. This is an ongoing series, which I began in 2005.
These images were photographed using large format film, and Digital SLRs. The film was scanned and then printed.