Editor’s Note: Photographer Ijeoma D. Iheanacho has launched the reImagining, a new photography project aiming to shatter negative black women stereotypes . “The only thing worse than being misrepresented in your culture, is to be disappeared from it. Now imagine having to vacillate between the two. If you can, you know what it is to be a Black woman in America. … The reImagining is a large scale photography project borne out of the need to allow these women to not only work against the stereotypes put on them, but to also reclaim and re-represent their identities for themselves,” Iheanacho explains.
Black women and media have a long and strained relationship. For every positive image of black women on television, in films or magazines there are at least a handful that counter them. There was a time when black women were visible, multi-dimensional and revered. Long gone is the era when Claire Huxtable shined in primetime, Beverly Johnson graced the covers of high fashion magazines and Naomi and Tyra dominated the runway. Now, black women serve as props, arm candy and sassy bullies.
Ijeoma D. Iheanacho is looking to change that. The New York based photographer is spearheading an online fundraising campaign for “The reImagining: Photographing the Unheard,” an art exhibit that will feature 100 black women portraying and defying stereotypes placed upon them. Loop 21 spoke with Iheanacho, 34, on her motivation, what images of black women upset her the most and what artists have influenced her photography.
Read more at Loop21, see the Kickstarter fundraising profile here and watch the video below:
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