Quote 1:
"I’m always trying to figure out how we negotiate our place in the world-how we are seen and how we see ourselves."
Response:
This quote indicates Weems' exploration of identity and representation. She is quite concerned about how the Black, especially the Black woman, navigates visibility and self-perception. Always seeking to reclaim the gaze for the rightful presentation of Black bodies-in all their complexity and dignity-her work often challenges the dominant narratives. In this, she aligns herself with a discussion introduced by bell hooks around the way in which one constructs an identity in America through visual culture.
Quote 2:
"Photography can be a way of bearing witness, but it can also be a way of creating myths."
Response:
Photographers conceive meanings both at once and in between, as Weems identifies with the documentary aspects of photography. She captures real experiences and histories and at times reweaves them into narratives that seek to humanize Shoals challenge histories raided. This pairs with bell hooks' critique of mainstream representations and the need for counter-narratives that center marginalized voices.
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