The work also considers the impact of this decline on the community and on her family, creating a statement that is both personal and truly political, an intervention in the histories and narratives of the region. Frazier compellingly sets her three-generation story—her grandmother Ruby, her mother, and herself—against broader questions of civic belonging and responsibility. The work documents her own struggles and interactions with family and community expectations, and includes documentation of the disappearance of Braddock's only hospital, reinforcing the idea that the history of a place is frequently written on the body as well as the landscape. With The Notion of Family, Frazier consciously acknowledges and extends the traditions of classic black-and-white documentary photography by soliciting the participation of her family, and her mother in particular. In creating these collaborative works, Frazier reinforces the idea of art and image-making as a transformative act, a means of redefining traditional power dynamics and narratives, both within his family and the community at large; text by Dennis C. Dickerson and Laura Wexler, interview by Dawoud Bey.
Aperture, 2016
158 pages
9.5 × 10.8 inches
ISBN: 9781597113816
The work also considers the impact of this decline on the community and on her family, creating a statement that is both personal and truly political, an intervention in the histories and narratives of the region. Frazier compellingly sets her three-generation story—her grandmother Ruby, her mother, and herself—against broader questions of civic belonging and responsibility. The work documents her own struggles and interactions with family and community expectations, and includes documentation of the disappearance of Braddock's only hospital, reinforcing the idea that the history of a place is frequently written on the body as well as the landscape. With The Notion of Family, Frazier consciously acknowledges and extends the traditions of classic black-and-white documentary photography by soliciting the participation of her family, and her mother in particular. In creating these collaborative works, Frazier reinforces the idea of art and image-making as a transformative act, a means of redefining traditional power dynamics and narratives, both within his family and the community at large; text by Dennis C. Dickerson and Laura Wexler, interview by Dawoud Bey.
Aperture, 2016
158 pages
9.5 × 10.8 inches
ISBN: 9781597113816
