The Black Photographers Annual (volume 1)
New York: The Black Photographers Annual, 1973. Paperback.
Very Good, overall. Clean and unmarked paperback. Slight toning around the edges. The paper wrappers show hints of dampstaining. Forward by Toni Morrision. Black and white photographs. 143 pages. 8.5” x 10”.
The Black Photographers Annual appeared in four volumes across seven years (1973, 1974, 1976, and 1980). Revealing a motivation for the project, editor Joe Crawford says, “[T]he Black community has been forced to be content with a view of itself presented them by others. The Black community has been robbed of the opportunity to see itself through the eyes of its own artists. The situation is unlikely to improve unless Blacks take it upon themselves to search out and publicize the works of the Black artist.”
The inaugural volume includes the works of 49 artists, all presented as they are without commentary.
Toni Morrison contributes the forward, in which she writes, “[This] is…a true book. It hovers over the matrix of black life, takes accurate aim and explodes our sensibilities. Telling us what we had forgotten we knew, showing us new things about ancient lives, and old truths in new phenomena.”
ISBN: 0913564001
Price: $400.00