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The Larger Conversation

The Lens of Black & Queer Photography

Thursday, April 28, 2022
7 - 8:15 pm
Calderwood Hall

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The stories and images of Black and queer people across the world have not been documented, archived, or acknowledged in a humane way. Photography can reveal the beauty and vulnerability of Black and queer people in a manner that is necessary, just, and empowering. Join us for a timely conversation with photographers and scholars Lola Flash, OJ Slaughter, Briona Simone Jones and moderated by WBUR reporter Cristela Guerra to unpack how their lenses give agency back to the communities they believe in. 

Cristela Guerra

Cristela Guerra.

Cristela Guerra is an award-winning journalist and senior arts and culture reporter for WBUR’s The ARTery. She worked nearly four years at The Boston Globe beginning in the features department and then making her way back to Metro. She’s covered the Covid pandemic, blizzards, immigration policy, the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in the mainland, and now arts and culture news around New England. She began her journalism career in Florida logging nearly seven years at The News-Press. In 2014, she was part of a team that won a regional and national Edward R. Murrow Award for her two-day series called “A Spark of Hope.” She also volunteers her time with Girl’s Inc. as a mentor and in 2019, Amplify Latinx nominated her as one of their 2019 Latina Leaders. She's driven to understand people, committed to local communities, and hopes to use the arts as a lens to delve deeper into issues of race, equity, and social justice.

Lola Flash.
Lola Flash, Thato, Cape Town, South Africa

Lola Flash, Photographer

Working at the forefront of genderqueer visual politics for more than three decades, Flash’s photography challenges stereotypes and gender, sexual and racial preconceptions. Her art and activism are profoundly connected, fueling a life-long commitment to visibility and preserving the legacy of LGBTQIA+ and communities of color worldwide. 

She received her bachelor's degree from Maryland Institute and her Masters from London College of Printing. In 2008, she was a resident at Light Work and in 2015, she participated at Alice Yard, in Trinidad. In 2019, she was a resident at Center for Photography at Woodstock. Flash has work included in public collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney and MoMa.  

Pen + Brush Gallery’s inaugural exhibition for 2018, featured a 30-year retrospective of her significant photographs. 

Flash’s practice is firmly rooted in social justice advocacy around sexual, racial and cultural difference. 

 

Lola Flash, Thato, Cape Town, South Africa, 2002, from the [sur]passing series.
OJ Slaughter.
OJ Slaughter, The Long People 4

OJ Slaughter is a Virginia-born, New Jersey-raised, Boston-based artist. Their work focuses on autonomy in photography and allows subjects to work with them instead of telling them who they need to be in the photo. OJ creates work that places the viewer in a world of their making.

OJ's primary goal is to capture images for our future past. Their work has captured everything from Civil Rights protests, album and magazine covers, news stories, and more.

OJ works currently as the Visual Creative Director for Sound On, a music series for WBUR. They most recently created work for The Institute of Contemporary Art Boston in collaboration with Virgil Abloh for his "Figures Of Speech" show. "Breaking Cycles" was then featured in the Deana Lawson show at the ICA. OJ is now the Curator and Gallery Manager for Leica Gallery Boston.  

OJ Slaughter, The Long People 4, from the series The Long People.
Briona Simone Jones
Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought, 2021, Briona Simone Jones

Briona Simone Jones is Assistant Professor of English and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Connecticut, specializing in African American literature, Feminist and Queer Theory, and Black Queer studies. Jones has published a collection of Black Lesbian writings titled Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought, the most comprehensive anthology centering Black Lesbian Thought to date. Jones is currently working on her monograph, Black Lesbian Aesthetics, which is a study of the heretical shift in self-definition that transpired after the groundbreaking formation of the Combahee River Collective in 1974.

Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought, 2021, Briona Simone Jones, cover artist: Emily Mahon, and cover photo: tochi hannah.

Tickets

As mandated by the City of Boston, as of January 15, 2022, all visitors ages 12+ are required to provide proof of vaccination upon entry. Face masks must be worn. For further information about the Museum’s current guidelines and resources to prepare your visit, our Know Before You Go webpage or contact the Box Office at 617 278 5156 or boxoffice@isgm.org. 

Advance tickets are required and include Museum admission.

Adults $20, seniors $18, students $13, free for members and children 17 and under.

Online, by clicking the TICKETS button above*

By calling the box office at 617 278 5156, Wednesday-Monday, 10 am-4 pm*

In-person: Visit the Museum in advance of the program date and purchase at the door, Wednesday-Monday, 11 am-4:30 pm

Being Muholi: Portraits as Resistance is supported by the Abrams Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the Wagner Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. The Media Partner is WBUR.

The Artist-in-Residence program is directed by Pieranna Cavalchini, Tom and Lisa Blumenthal Curator of Contemporary Art, and is supported in part by the Barbara Lee Program Fund. 

The Museum receives operating support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which is supported by the state of Massachusetts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Event Media Partner

Uncommon Radio.