See ‘Posing Beauty in African American Culture’ in Cincinnati

A young Black man wearing an old-fashioned coat and scarf casually leans while gazing into the distance. The vibrant photo, “Jean-Baptiste Belley,” is a self-portrait of contemporary photographer Omar Victor Diop, and a replication of a 1797 painting of Belley, a fellow Senegalese man who worked toward the abolition of slavery in France.  

The photo is part of “Posing Beauty in African American Culture,” an exhibition of more than 100 pieces of documentary, commercial and fine art photography that highlights African American beauty and visual culture from the 1890s to present day. The touring exhibit, originally curated by Deborah Willis, is at the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati through Jan. 12.

“This show really invites comparisons with works in our permanent collection and encourages dialogue about the concept of beauty and how it’s been historically established,” says Tamera Lenz Muente, curator at the Taft Museum of Art. 

That’s why Muente paired some works from “Posing Beauty” with ones in the Taft’s galleries. For example, Diop’s take on Belley’s 18th-century painting is displayed next to “Edward and William Tomkinson,” a painting by Thomas Gainsborough from around 1784 that depicts two boys dressed and posed in a similar way.  

Another photo matched with a piece from the museum’s permanent collection features a 1930s image of a well-dressed Black woman standing next to a sleek car by photojournalist Charles “Teenie” Harris. It is presented in a gallery of paintings showing middle-class women from England in the 1700s.

“I’m juxtaposing this image of middle-class beauty from the 1930s in America as a way to show how portraiture is something that communicates beauty and class and social status,” Muente says. “She’s wearing the height of 1930s fashion next to this incredible automobile. I love how it captures an era in a single image.”

Other pieces include a compilation of 100 black-and-white and color images by Hank Willis Thomas that appeared in Jet magazine and show how beauty has evolved during the publication’s tenure, as well as photos from a 1980s series by Jamel Shabazz who documented street-style fashion in New York City. 

“I hope visitors will come out with an understanding of how images in our lives construct these ideal standards and how there are people who are left out of those standards of beauty,” Muente says, “and that the show will give them some kind of inspiration to look critically at the way beauty is constructed in our society, and the willingness to maybe challenge some of those constructions.”

316 Pike St., Cincinnati 45202, 513/241-0343, taftmuseum.org