Photography is a form of art that can be used to capture other art forms and embed them in history forever. Murals are typically painted on walls of a building and displayed for the enjoyment of their community. Photographing these murals allows for them to be delivered to larger audiences around the world.[1] Today, much artwork is digitized, but this was not always the case. This was especially true with African American art for multiple reasons. First, there is already limited documented evidence to teach us about African American history.[2] Moreover, many pieces of art made by African American artists would get taken down for being thought of as delivering an “insensitive” or “violent” message. Photographing historical murals is crucial if we want to understand the history of African Americans as well as African American art.
When it comes to murals in Los Angeles, one of the best places to look is at the work of Robin Dunitz. Dunitz dedicated her life to preserving art: she was a vice president of the Murals Conservancy of Los Angeles and published several books on murals, such as
Walls of Heritage, Walls of Pride: African American Murals (2000) and
Street gallery: guide to 1000 Los Angeles murals (1998). She also photographed over 2,000 Los Angeles murals, including many by African American artists, which have been digitized and can be accessed through USC Libraries’ online collection (http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15799coll15).[3] This archive of photographs delivers the murals’ messages all around the world, which can help the audience learn and understand about different cultures and histories.
Photographs can also be used as source material for muralists. One example of this process is with Noni Olabisi, an artist who painted many murals in Los Angeles about African American subject matter. One of her most famous works is “Freedom Won’t Wait,” (fig. 1), a response to the 1992 acquittal of LAPD officers charged with beating Rodney King. In the top right of her mural, smoke billows out of destroyed buildings. When finding photographs of the actual Rodney King riots (fig. 2), the similarities between these images are very apparent. On the left side of Olabisi’s mural, there are also images depicted of two Black males being hanged, as well as a policeman brutally pinning down a Black man. These were issues back then, and are still issues today.[4] The real life videos and images of police brutality in the past are very graphic, and it is clear that Olabisi was translating these events into her art.
When artists tell their stories with art, photography is a crucial means by which they are able to reach as large an audience as possible. Today, there are several online platforms where people can post and share images to be viewed by their friends across the world. One example is Instagram, where pages like @blackartinamerica_ and @locoliinda show posts about African American art and street art in Los Angeles, respectively. Photography makes such archives possible and enables people outside of the community where the art is located to see and appreciate it.
Notes
1. “Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles.” PAC LA
2. Fuentes, Ed. “Preserving Memory of Lost Murals with Photographs.”
KCET.
3. Dunitz, Robin. “Robin Dunitz Slides of Los Angeles Murals, 1925-2002.” USC Libraries.
4. Fine, Howard. "Rodney king riots still cast shadows."
Los Angeles Business Journal.5. “Los Angeles Riots.” History.com
Bibliography
Black Art in America (@blackartinamerica_). Instagram. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.instagram.com/blackartinamerica_/?hl=en
Dunitz, Robin. “Freedom won't wait, Los Angeles, 1992.” USC Libraries. Accessed April 19, 2021. http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll15/id/1721/rec/8
Dunitz, Robin. “Robin Dunitz Slides of Los Angeles Murals, 1925-2002.” USC Libraries. Accessed April 19, 2021. http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15799coll15.
Fine, Howard. "Rodney king riots still cast shadows." Los Angeles Business Journal, April 10, 2017, 1+. Gale OneFile: Business (accessed April 19, 2021). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A492535033/GPS?u=usocal_main&sid=GPS&xid=7d3b5845.
Fuentes, Ed. “Preserving Memory of Lost Murals with Photographs.” KCET. March 31, 2014. https://www.kcet.org/history-society/preserving-memory-of-lost-murals-with-photographs.
History.com. “Los Angeles Riots.” History.com. December 1, 2020. https://www.history.com/topics/1990s/the-los-angeles-riots
Los Angeles Street Art (@locoliinda). Instagram. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.instagram.com/locoliinda/?hl=en
Miranda, Carolina. “Not just about Rodney King: California African American Museum takes a wide view of the 1992 riots.” Baltimore Sun. March 9, 2017. https://www.baltimoresun.com/la-ca-cm-spring-arts-caam-california-african-american-museum-20170309-story.html
PAC LA. “Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles.” https://paclosangeles.com/.
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