Through Sunday Only at the NGA: ‘Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955-1985’
By • January 5, 2026 0 115
By Ryan Allen
The countdown has begun – only three days left to catch the National Gallery of Art’s impressive “Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955-1985” exhibition. The show features approximately 150 works by more than 100 artists, anchored by a stellar selection of photographs alongside graphic and mixed media pieces. Organized thematically, the exhibition traces how photography functioned as both an artistic and political tool during the Black Arts Movement. This cultural movement flourished in the 1960s-70s, using art rooted in Black identity and political self-determination as a tool for empowerment and social change. Don’t miss this opportunity for a strong start to your 2026 cultural calendar!
And as a last-minute bonus, featured photographer Ming Smith will be present for an in-person Artist Talk this coming Sunday (aka closing day), 12 to 1pm in the East Building Auditorium.
A photo gallery of works in the exhibit can be found below:
-
- Chester Higgins Father prays over son on Osu Beach, Accra, Ghana, 1973 gelatin silver print
-
- Gordon Parks Ethel Sharrieff in Chicago, 1963 gelatin silver print
-
- Gordon Parks Evening Prayer, Muslim Father and Son, New York, 1963 gelatin silver print
-
- Gordon Parks Miles Davis, 1981 gelatin silver print
-
- Gordon Parks Newsman Being Frisked at Muslim Rally in Chicago, 1963, printed 1997 gelatin silver print
-
- Ming Smith Sun Ra Space II, New York, New York, 1978 gelatin silver print
-
- Louis Draper Untitled (Santos) from the “Playground Series”, 1967 gelatin silver print
-
- Louis Draper Untitled (Playground) from the “Playground Series”, c. 1965 gelatin silver print
-
- Louis Draper Fannie Lou Hamer, Mississippi, July 1971 gelatin silver print
-
- Beuford Smith Boy and Doll, Lower East Side, 1966 gelatin silver print
-
- Beuford Smith Untitled (Puddle), c. 1970 gelatin silver print
-
- Anthony Barboza Untitled (Bus, New York City), 1970s gelatin silver print
-
- Shawn Walker HarYouAct, 115th Street, Harlem, 1963 gelatin silver print
-
- Herman Howard Sweet as a Peach, Harlem, New York City, 1963 gelatin silver print
-
- Herb Robinson Brother and Sister, Jamaica, 1973 gelatin silver print
-
- Romare Bearden 110th Street Harlem Blues, 1972 collage with painted paper, tape, and gelatin silver prints
-
- Mother’s Day, 1962. From the series “Born Hip”. Gelatin silver print. 17.5 × 13.3 cm (image/paper); 30.3 × 23.3 cm (mount). Gift of the Illinois Arts Council. 2017.443
-
- Raphael Albert (1935-2009) archive 1960 -1980, including beauty pageants such as Miss Black and Beautiful and Miss West Indies in Great Britain; as well as documentary photographs and family portraits of the local community in West London.
-
- Ralph Arnold Above This Earth, Games, Games, 1968 collage and acrylic on canvas
-
- Ralph Arnold Soul Box, 1969 assemblage with found objects and collage on Masonite
-
- Dwight Carter Linda Goode Bryant, c. 1974, printed 2024 inkjet print
-
- June Clark The Wig Shop (1090 Bathurst St.), 1976 gelatin silver print
-
- June Clark La Parisienne Barber Shop, Bathurst Street, c. 1970–1975 gelatin silver print
-
- Darryl Cowherd Amiri Baraka at Dunbar High School (Fragment from the Wall of Respect), 1967 gelatin silver print mounted on wood
-
- Rolland J. Curtis Natural Kuumba Hair Salon, 1969, printed 2025 inkjet print
-
- Doris A. Derby Black-owned Grocery Store, Sunday, Mileston, Mississippi, 1968 gelatin silver print
-
- David C. Driskell Woman with Flowers, 1972 oil and collage on canvas
-
- Rhythmic Cigarettes, Greenwich Village, New York; Albert Fennar (American, 1938 – 2018); New York, New York, United States; 1965; Gelatin silver print; 15.5 × 22.5 cm (6 1/8 × 8 7/8 in.); 2022.50.4; In Copyright (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/)
-
- Samuel Fosso Untitled, from the series “70s Lifestyle”, 1979 gelatin silver print
-
- Roland Freeman Getting Acquainted, Sunday Afternoon in Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland, August 1973, printed later gelatin silver print
-
- Charles “Teenie” Harris (American, 1908-1998);Image from Sylvania television screen of woman wearing sleeveless patterned dress, holding hand to ear and microphone to man wearing dark suit, standing in front of crowd, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in Washington D.C.;August 28, 1963;black-and-white: Kodak safety film;overall: 4 × 5 in. (10.2 × 12.7 cm);Heinz Family Fund;2001.35.58721
-
- Doug Harris Malcolm X with Mississippi Movement students at his office, Hotel Theresa, Harlem, NYC, December 31, 1964
-
- Alex Harsley Nite Meetings, 1959, printed 2024 inkjet print
-
- Alex Harsley Me Two, on Wall Street, 1965, printed 2024 inkjet print
-
- Barkley L. Hendricks Dr. Kool, Philadelphia, 1972 gelatin silver print
-
- Barkley L. Hendricks Self-Portrait with Red Sweater, 1980, printed 2023 chromogenic print
-
- Ulysses Jenkins Two Zone Transfer, 1979 digital video, color, sound
-
- Roy Lewis Ed Christmas section of the Wall of Respect with boys on scaffold (Art Rhythms), 1967, printed 2025 inkjet print
-
- Roy Lewis Nina Simone on a Sunday morning visit to the Wall of Respect mural at 43rd and Langley in Chicago’s Black Belt (Nina’s Prayer), 1967, printed 2025 inkjet print
-
- Jimmie Mannas What Future?, 1964, printed 1982 gelatin silver print
-
- John Clark Mayden Beauty, Park Avenue, Reservoir Hill, 1977 gelatin silver print
-
- John W. Mosley Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses civil rights demonstrators in front of Girard College, Philadelphia, August 3, 1965, printed 2025 inkjet print
-
- John W. Mosley View of the crowd as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses civil rights demonstrators at 40th Street and Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, August 3, 1965 gelatin silver print
-
- Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe Jake with His Boat Arriving on Daufuskie’s Shore, Daufuskie Island, South Carolina, 1978, printed 2007 gelatin silver print
-
- Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe A Collection of Family Memorabilia, Daufuskie Island, South Carolina, 1979, printed 2007 gelatin silver print
-
- Ozier Muhammad Former addict sings gospel. At a methadone clinic in a Chicago neighborhood former addicts meet twice weekly for group sessions with therapy counselors. This woman offered the gospel song “Precious Lord” to the assembled., 1972 gelatin silver print
-
- Horace Ové Walking Proud, Notting Hill Carnival, c. 1972, printed 2023 inkjet print
-
- Betye Saar Let Me Entertain You, 1972 wooden window frame with cut and pasted printed and painted paper, photocopy transparency, and wood veneer with found object
-
- Jeffrey Henson Scales In a Time of Panthers 1, Chicago Summer, 1967, printed 2022 gelatin silver print
-
- Jeffrey Henson Scales In a Time of Panthers 14, Bobby Seale, chairman of the Black Panther Party, speaking to media, Oakland, CA, 1969, printed 2022 gelatin silver print
-
- Harry Adams Protest Car, Los Angeles, 1962, printed 2024 inkjet print
-
- Roland Charles Untitled, 1978, printed 2024 inkjet print
-
- Thomas Ellis The Game, 1947 gelatin silver print
-
- Darrel Ellis Untitled (Children Playing Hopscotch), c. 1981 ink, wash and graphite on paper
-
- Willie Middlebrook Watts Revisited, 1980, printed 2024 inkjet print
-
- Coreen Simpson Self-Portrait, 1978 gelatin silver print
-
- Moneta Sleet Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Martin Luther King Singing in the Rain during the March from Selma to Montgomery, 1965, printed c. 1970 gelatin silver print
-
- Moneta Sleet Jr. Two Teenaged Supporters of the Selma March, 1965, printed c. 1970 gelatin silver print
-
- Frank Stewart Easter Sunday, 1976 inkjet print
-
- James E. Hinton Mahalia Jackson Singing at Rally, Soldier Field, Chicago, 1963 1963 High Museum of Art © James E. Hinton
-
- Object No. L2023.20.3 C. Daniel Dawson (American, born 1943) Amiri #10, 1970 Gelatin silver print Sheet: 9 15/16”H × 7⅞”W (25.24 × 20 cm) Image: 8¾”H × 5⅞”W (22.23 × 14.92 cm) Image must be credited with the following collection and photo credit lines: Collection of Charles Daniel Dawson. Courtesy Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond.
-
- Cecil J. Williams Clara White Mission, Jacksonville, Florida, 1960s, printed 2024 inkjet print
-
- Earlie Hudnall, Jr. Street Champion, Fourth Ward, Houston, Texas, 1986, printed 1998 gelatin silver print
-
- Earlie Hudnall, Jr. Mother with Sons, Third Ward, Houston, Texas, 1973, printed c. 1990 gelatin silver print
-
- Ming Smith Prelude to Middle Passage (Île de Gorée, Senegal), 1972, printed 2024 inkjet print
-
- Kwame Brathwaite Untitled (Charles Peaker Street Speaker, head of ANPM, after Carlos Cooks passed away, on 125th Street), c. 1968, printed 2016 inkjet print
-
- James E. Hinton Two Women Sitting on a New York City Subway 1966 High Museum of Art © James E. Hinton
-
- Jeff Donaldson J. D. McClain’s Day in Court, 1970 paint and cardboard with ink on paper
-
- Doris A. Derby Member of Southern Media photographing a young girl, Farish Street, Jackson, Mississippi, 1968 gelatin silver print
-
- David Hammons making a Body Print inside the Slauson Avenue Studio in Los Angeles, 1974
-
- Robert A. Sengstacke Dr. Martin Luther King at Quinn Chapel AME Church, Chicago, January 1, 1965 gelatin silver print
-
- Maria Varela Perry “Pap” Hamer Cooking Cracklins, c. 1965 gelatin silver print
-
- Maria Varela Amy’s First Day, Indianola, Mississippi, 1965 gelatin silver print
-
- Julius Lester Sharecropper Family, Spring, Mississippi Delta, 1966, printed later gelatin silver print
-
- Jamel Shabazz The Early Days: Brooklyn and West Germany, 1975–1985, 1975–1985 91 chromogenic and gelatin silver prints and one business card in photo album
-
- Tamio Wakayama Bob Moses at a memorial service for James Earl Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman in the ruins of the Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, Neshoba County, Mississippi, August 1964 gelatin silver print
-
- Carrie Mae Weems Mom at Work from the series “Family Pictures and Stories”, 1978–1984 gelatin silver print
-
- Doug Harris Malcolm X speaks at a rally at Harlem’s Williams Institutional CME Church on December 20, 1964, with Fannie Lou Hamer, and Professor Bill Strickland, 1964 gelatin silver print
-
- Ray Francis Genie, 1971 gelatin silver print
-
- Mixed Statement, 1984. Oil, photo collage, and mixed media on canvas. Overall: 54 × 96″ (137.2 × 243.8 cm), three panels. Purchase.
-
- Ernest C. Withers I Am A Man, Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee, March 28, 1968 gelatin silver print
-
- Lester Sloan Eldridge Cleaver, leader in the Black Panther Party and author of the memoir, “Soul on Ice,” Los Angeles, 1978, printed 2024 inkjet print
-
- Herbert Randall Untitled (Bed-Stuy, New York), c. 1960s gelatin silver print
-
- Kwame Brathwaite Untitled (Portrait, Reels as Necklace), c. 1972, printed later inkjet print
-
- Marvin Gaye relaxing at his ranch in Topanga Canyon, CA. 1978
-
- Isaac Sutton Photograph of Etta Moten Barnett gazing at a painting, c. 1960 gelatin silver print
-
- Christian Walker The Theater Project, 1983–1984 gelatin silver print
-
- Ademola Olugebefola Reclamation Site # 2….Harlem, 1969 mixed media on Masonite, color lithographed poster, acrylic paint, cork, wood stain, wood fragments, stone fragments, soil, and industrial adhesive
-
- Hiram Maristany Juan González, Minister of Information, in the doorway of the first office of the Young Lords, 1969, printed 2021 gelatin silver print
-
- Carla Williams Untitled (Curlers) #1.2, 1984–1985 gelatin silver print, bleached
-
- Rupert García ¡Libertad para los Prisoneros Políticas!, 1971 color screenprint on wove paper
-
- Dawoud Bey The Blues Singer, Harlem, NY, 1976 gelatin silver print
-
- “Drum” Cover Girl Erlin Ibreck, Kilburn, London, 1966, printed 2023 chromogenic print
-
- John Simmons Love on the Bus, Chicago, Illinois, 1967, printed 2024 gelatin silver print
-
- Barbara McCullough Shopping Bag Spirits and Freeway Fetishes: Reflections on Ritual Space, 1980 digitized video from film, color video, sound, 60 minutes
-
- Self-Portrait with Eggs, 1985 gelatin silver print
-
- Frank Dandridge Page spread in Life magazine, September 27, 1963 magazine
