Exhibit celebrates important African-American photographer
Contact: Beth Thomas
Phone: (302) 831-8749
Email: [email protected]
Photos may be viewed at http://Seurat.art.udel.edu/UDGallery/polk/polk.html
"Through These Eyes: The Photographs of P.H. Polk," one of the South's most eminent African-American photographers, is on display now, north of the Mason Dixon Line, at the University of Delaware. The exhibition celebrates the centennial of the birth of this important and influential artist. After its Newark, Del., showing the exhibition will travel nationally.
From 1928 to 1938, Prentice Herman Polk taught photography at Tuskegee Institute (now University) in Alabama, and in 1933 became the third chairperson of the photography department at the Southern school.
>From 1939 until his death in 1984, he held the position of official photographer at Tuskegee University and, having one of the few private studios in the Macon County area, also became a well-known portrait photographer during his lifetime.
Polk's images of Southern life -- from the dignitaries who visited Tuskegee, and the middle-class African Americans who frequented his private studio, to the farmers and laborers who worked the cotton fields of rural Macon County -- all exemplify the photographer's keen ability for telling a riveting human story through the camera's eye.
Included in this exhibition are vintage photographs of the acclaimed scientist, George Washington Carver -- in his lab conducting experiments, in the fields surveying crop conditions, lecturing students and pursuing leisure activities. Carver, like Polk, served as both an educator and a mentor for the students of Tuskegee and inspired many throughout the nation. Polk's photographs of Carver provide an extraordinary vehicle for communicating the truth and legend of this charismatic and renowned figure.
Paul R. Jones of Atlanta, an avid collector of Polk's works, loaned the gallery more than 100 photographs, which compose the bulk of the exhibition. Other lenders include Polk family members and the Tuskegee University Archives.
An illustrated catalog accompanies the exhibition with contributions from scholars and experts in the fields of photography, Southern social history and the African-American experience. Numerous interpretive programs are being presented in conjunction with the exhibit, including guest lectures, gallery tours, films and special events for families.
For more information, call (302) 831-8242. Visit the University Gallery on-line at http://Seurat.art.udel.edu/UDGallery/GalleryHP.html and see photos of the Polk exhibit at http://Seurat.art.udel.edu/UDGallery/polk/polk.html
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