Graffiti

Date1978

Label TextIn his record of black life, DeCarava often allows darkness (night or shadow or color) to dominate his prints. DeCarava's visual poetry is rooted in a powerful but understated autobiographical voice. The quiet, sometimes melancholic character of his photographs allows viewers to contemplate life as known to a Harlem artist born in 1919.

Object number82.59

ProvenanceThe American Telephone and Telegraph Co.; to the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1982

Photo CreditPhoto: Scott Leen

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, American Images: New Work By Twenty Contemporary Photographers, 1979. Set B, Group V. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, 200 Photographs from the Museum Collection, Dec. 8, 1983 - Feb. 5, 1984. Text by Rod Slemmons. No cat. no. Vancouver, British Columbia, Presentation House Theater Company and Art Galleries, The Genius of Diane Arbus in Context: 65 photographs from the Seattle Art Museum Collection, June 5 - July 12, 1987. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Collection Highlights: 1945 to the Present, Sept. 12, 1996 - June 1, 1997. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, In A Silent Way, May 18 - Dec. 1, 2013. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Go Tell It: Civil Rights Photography, Apr. 30, 2016 - Jan. 2, 2017. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Semiotics of the Street, Feb. 4 - July 17, 2022.

Credit LineGift of the American Telephone and Telegraph Co.

Dimensions9 3/16 x 13 1/16 in. (23.4 x 33.1 cm) Sheet h.: 11 in. Sheet w.: 13 15/16 in.

MediumGelatin silver print