The Kitchen Table Series

Our film photography piece for today is “The Kitchen Table Series” by Carrie Wae Meems. While she originally studied dance, Carrie turned to photography while being a union organiser for the labour movement, for which she had originally intended to use her camera for. However, she decided to take up artistic photography after reading the “The Black Photography Annual, a book dedicated to displaying African American photographers.

Carrie began The Kitchen Table Series in 1989, and spent two years taking pictures in her kitchen with herself as the main character. Through the setting of her kitchen table, Carrie created an image of the relationships between men and women, women and women, and a mother’s relationship with her child.

The collection was pivotal in creating a space for Black representation in art. However, in her interview for W magazine, Carrie emphasized that the series is not limited to a particular perspective, saying ““I think [the series is] important in relationship to Black experience, but it’s not about race”.

Sources

http://carriemaeweems.net/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/t-magazine/carrie-mae-weems-interview.html

https://www.moma.org/artists/7177