Introducing: Fotographers in Focus, featuring Tawny Chatmon

Fotografiska recently opened in December 2019, but is temporarily closed due to COVID-19. During this time of closure, the team has launched Fotographers in Focus, a behind-the-lens project, which asks the photographers exhibiting at Fotografiska to create a home video from isolation about their process, and what they have been working on during the pandemic.

The series launched with a video from one of the first photographers to exhibit their work in the museum – Tawny Chatmon, who’s exhibition entitled Inheritance is a celebration of the beauty of African American children and maternal and familial bonds. Through her photographs, she conveys a message to her children, and to all black children, that they are precious, valued, and loved.

Girl Enlightened from the series “The Redemption,” 2019 © Tawny Chatmon. Courtesy Tawny Chatmon and Galerie Myrtis

Her photography invites the viewer to look beyond the decorated and nuanced portraits to examine issues of race and the historical positioning of African American portraiture. Chatmon is a mother of three black children, and draws from her life experiences and belief that children inherit our memories, beliefs, traditions, and the world that we leave behind.

While the camera is her primary tool of communication, Chatmon takes a multi-layered approach in producing her photographs—her process does not subscribe to conventional photography. The use of gold and ornamentation in her work evokes feelings of grace, magnificence, and beauty within.

Castles from the series “The Redemption,” 2019 © Tawny Chatmon. Courtesy Tawny Chatmon and Galerie Myrtis

Fotographers in Focus is launching with an intimate view of Tawny Chatmon’s home life, as she takes care of her children, develops new work, and shares how she is keeping creative and inspired during social distancing.

See the video HERE.

Tawny Chatmon working in her at-home studio, March 2020 © Tawny Chatmon (left) – Tawny Chatmon’s children at home, March 2020 © Tawny Chatmon (right)

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Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.