A person wearing a beanie takes a photo with a camera in front of a reflective surface, creating a mirrored image. In the background, two people sit on a bench inside a modern building.Alex Harsley, Me Two, on Wall Street, 1965, printed 2024 | On loan from the artist

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., is presenting the first exhibition to explore photography’s impact on a cultural and aesthetic movement that celebrated Black history, identity, and beauty.

The exhibition, titled Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985, focuses on the contributions of American and Afro-Atlantic diaspora photographers in creating a distinct Black visual culture and identity. This is the first exhibition to specifically explore photography’s role within the Black Arts Movement, a creative initiative with influence comparable to the Harlem Renaissance, which developed alongside the civil rights and international freedom movements.

A young woman in a colorful, patterned mini dress leans against a vintage car parked on a tree-lined street, with parked cars and blurred traffic in the background.James Barnor “Drum” Cover Girl Erlin Ibreck, Kilburn, London, 1966, printed 2023 | National Gallery of Art, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund, 2025.26.3 © James Barnor / Courtesy galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière A person in a shiny costume and headpiece dances energetically on stage, with blurred motion. In the background, a band of musicians plays instruments in a dimly lit room.Ming Smith, Sun Ra Space II, New York, New York, 1978 | National Gallery of Art, Charina Endowment Fund, 2017.42.1 © Ming Smith A large group of protesters, mostly men, stand in a line holding signs that read “I AM A MAN” during a civil rights demonstration on a city street. Some trees and a building are visible in the background.Ernest C. Withers, I Am A Man, Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee, March 28, 1968 | National Gallery of Art, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund, 2023.87.1 © Dr. Ernest C. Withers, Sr. courtesy of the Withers Family Trust A group of women in matching white uniforms and head coverings stand in rows, with one woman at the front looking directly at the camera, wearing a necklace and pendant. The background women are slightly out of focus.Gordon Parks, Ethel Sharrieff in Chicago, 1963, National Gallery of Art, Corcoran Collection | The Gordon Parks Collection, 2015.19.4631

The exhibition highlights the ways artists used photography to engage communities and promote self-representation, establishing approaches to socially engaged art that continue to influence contemporary practices.

“Photography and photographic images were crucial in defining and giving expression to the Black Arts Movement and the civil rights movement. By merging the social concerns and aesthetics of the period, Black artists and photographers were defining a Black aesthetic while expanding conversations around community building and public history,” Deborah Willis, guest co-curator, university professor and chair of the department of photography and imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts and founding director of the Center for Black Visual Culture at New York University, says in a press release. “The artists and their subjects helped to preserve compelling visual responses to this turbulent time, and their images reflect their pride and determination.”

A bearded man wearing a red sweater, tie, and glasses holds a camera, looking into a mirror. The background shows a blurred room with a green-framed doorway and some indistinct objects.Barkley L. Hendricks, Self-Portrait with Red Sweater, 1980, printed 2023 | National Gallery of Art, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund, 2023.171.2 © Barkley L. Hendricks. Courtesy of the Estate of Barkley L. Hendricks and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Two people in coats and hats stand on a dimly lit city street corner at night, illuminated by a streetlamp, with cars and buildings visible in the background.Alex Harsley, Nite Meetings, 1959, printed 2024 | On loan from the artist Five Black girls and women sit and stand on a wooden porch, eating ice cream. Four are seated, one stands holding a cone. Old signs, including Pepsi and TAX, hang on the building behind them.Doris A. Derby, Black-owned Grocery Store, Sunday, Mileston, Mississippi, 1968 | National Gallery of Art, Gift of David Knaus, 2022.149.1 © Doris A. Derby A woman with a neat bun poses against a white background, wearing a large, sculptural necklace made of intertwined metal coils around her neck and shoulders.Kwame Brathwaite, Untitled (Portrait, Reels as Necklace), c. 1972, printed later | National Gallery of Art, Gift of Funds from Renée Harbers Liddell and Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund, 2024.70.1 © Kwame Brathwaite A group of civil rights activists marches down a wet street, some carrying flags and others holding umbrellas. The group includes men and women, wearing formal and casual clothing, walking together with determined expressions.Dr. and Mrs. Martin Luther King Singing in the Rain during the March from Selma to Montgomery, 1965, printed c. 1970 | Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of the Johnson Publishing Company © Johnson Publishing Company Archive. Courtesy J. Paul Getty Trust and Smithsonian National, Museum of African American History and Culture. Made possible by the Ford Foundation, J. Paul Getty Trust, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Smithsonian Institution.

Photography and the Black Arts Movement presents roughly 150 works, including pieces that have rarely or never been publicly displayed. The exhibition demonstrates the cultural dialogue among writers, musicians, filmmakers, photographers, and visual artists of diverse backgrounds who, during the mid-20th century, addressed social and political change, the struggle for civil rights, and the rise of the Pan-African movement through art. Photographers are central to this presentation, revealing how visual documentation and artistic expression shaped the movement’s identity.

A man with a beard leans casually against a white fence outdoors, wearing an unbuttoned denim shirt. Trees and grass surround him, and the scene appears calm and relaxed under a clear sky.Bruce W. Talamon, Marvin Gaye, Topanga Canyon, 1979, printed 2025 | Bruce W. Talamon Photo © 2018 Bruce W. Talamon All Rights Reserved A young girl in a plaid dress looks through a children's shop window, hands pressed to the glass, while a man kneels nearby on the sidewalk, adjusting a camera with a busy street in the background.Doris A. Derby, Member of Southern Media photographing a young girl, Farish Street, Jackson, Mississippi, 1968 | National Gallery of Art, Gift of David Knaus, 2022.149.2 © Doris A. Derby A couple sits closely together on an empty bus at night; the woman rests her head on the man's shoulder while he drapes his arm around her, both gazing quietly ahead in the dim interior.John Simmons, Love on the Bus, Chicago, Illinois, 1967, printed 2024 | National Gallery of Art, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund, 2024.24.6 © John Simmons

The exhibition also features works from Africa, the Caribbean, and Great Britain, situating the Black Arts Movement within a broader global context of social, political, and cultural exchange. Photography and the Black Arts Movement will be on view in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., through January 11, 2026, before traveling to venues in California and Mississippi.