From the 1980s to the present, the Los Angeles-based photographer Dana Gluckstein has traveled the world, capturing indigenous people in large black and white photographs.
With her Hasselblad camera she has said she attempts to “stop time and create an authentic moment” in the lives of tribal people in Bali, Botswana, Fiji, Haiti, Kenya, Namibia, Zambia and many more locations on the planet where transitions are occurring almost every day in the lives of her subjects.
Several years ago, David Gentilini, director of Capital University’s Schumacher Gallery, discovered and was struck by the power of Gluckstein’s photographs. He has brought 60 of them to Schumacher Gallery in the exhibit “Dignity: Tribes in Transition,” continuing through April 1. Also on view is the smaller “… of Black Skin” presentation of portraits by local artists. Both exhibits began on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
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‘Dignity: Tribes in Transition’
The “Dignity” exhibit, which has toured the world since 2011, is a rich and beautiful selection of portraits, in which most of the subjects look straight at the camera. The archival pigment photographs are deep and textured so that details of people’s complexions – skin pores, tribal marks and even tear trails – can be seen on their faces. Many of the portraits are life-size or larger.
“Woman with Pipe,” Haiti (1983) presents a solemn woman with a pipe clenched in her teeth and glancing backward.
“Samburu Women,” Kenya (1985) shows two proud women adorned with multiple, thick coils of beads around their necks.
In “Teenage Girl,” Fiji (2008), the lovely subject with downcast eyes wears a simple floral dress.
Most of the subjects wear traditional attire and often are bare-chested. Some, perhaps reflecting the “transition” of the exhibit title, are caught in more western garb. Each of the men in “Herero Man Triptych,” Namibia (2007), are dressed in dapper clothing and wear sunglasses; they look as if they could have stepped out of a Harlem jazz club.
“Young Boy at Religious Festival,” Bhutan (2010) holds a toy gun and wears Western sneakers as he crouches and stares at the camera.
No matter their land of origin, gender or attire, all of the subjects are captured in a manner that reflects their personality, strength and dignity, certainly befitting the exhibit title.
Gluckstein, who has worked with Amnesty International and other humanitarian organizations to highlight the crises facing the vulnerable and often oppressed indigenous populations of the world, has spent decades creating these stunning photos that truly capture the diversity and beauty of these people.
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‘… of Black Skin’
More portraits of people of color, created by 10 Columbus-area artists, were assembled by artist Michael Bush.
The small (16 works) but impressive exhibit includes multi-media pieces by April Sunami, hyper-realistic and surreal paintings by Grant Gilsdorf, and black and white acrylic portraits, so realistic they appear to be photographs, by Mark Bush, who is up front about his inspiration for the paintings, citing Arinze Stanley for “Derrion” and Kehinde Wiley for “Ashianna.”
In “Kavinya,” Cassidy Boyuk has created a beautiful oil painting of a woman with downcast eyes.
And Melodie Thompson used oil and charcoal to produce a realistic but fanciful image of a small girl, standing and staring at a floral scene in which a deer is hidden. The painting, “Yesterday’s Pocket of Memories,” is lovely and mysterious.
Some of the artists, but not all, are African American. But all are adept and inventive in portraying subjects with Black skin.
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At a glance
“Dignity: Tribes in Transition” and “… of Black Skin” continue through April 1 in Capital University’s Schumacher Gallery, 1 College Ave. and Main St., Bexley. Hours: noon to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 1 to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays. (Closed March 4-12). Call 614-236-6319 or visit schumachergallery.org.
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