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ALBANY, NY -- The rich legacy of African American photographers is explored in the exhibition Reflections in Black: Smithsonian African American Photography, The First One Hundred Years, 1842-1942 on view at the New York State Museum from Jan. 25 through March 11, 2001, in the Photography Gallery.

In the early 19th and 20th centuries, African Americans were, in fact, pioneers in the medium: Jules Lion (1810-1866) began producing daguerreotypes in New Orleans in 1840, just one year after the invention of the process. Using Lion's work as a starting point, this exhibition follows the development of African American photography through its first 100 years. The artists in this exhibition immediately understood the new medium's power to create a comprehensive visual legacy and provide support for enlightened social philosophies.

Created by various forms of photographic technique as they were invented, including daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, stereographs, composite printing and flash photography, the images in this exhibition form a technical history of the medium as well as a pictorial history of African American life.

Some of the photographers included in this exhibition are:

• Augustus Washington (1820-1875), a New Jersey native who achieved celebrity status by making daguerreotypes in key New England cities, and in Liberia after his immigration to Africa.
• James Presley Ball (1825-1905), a free black abolitionist who photographed the construction of the Montana state Capitol building and produced thousands of highly prized photographs for an emerging black middle class in Helena, Montana.
• Daniel Freeman (1868-?), a painter and sought-after society photographer who opened his first studio in Washington, D.C., where he taught photography and started the Washington Amateur Art Society. He also represented the District of Columbia in an exhibition at the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta.
• Arthur P. Bedou (1881-1966), a New Orleans native who rose to fame through his portraits of jazz musicians, and for documenting the life of activist and educator, Booker T. Washington.
• Florestine Perrault Collins (1895-1988), who owned and operated a studio in New Orleans from 1920 to 1949, photographing families and visiting World War II soldiers. She opened her first studio in the living room of her home, using relatives as subjects for the kind of portraits that would make her one of Louisiana's most respected photographers.

The First One Hundred Years was originally presented by the Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture as part of the broad exhibition, Reflections in Black: African American Photography: 1840 to the present. That exhibition examined how throughout history, black photographers have played a central role in influencing how African Americans visualized themselves. The exhibition is presented as a series of three thematic sections: The First 100 Years, 1842-1942, Art and Activism, and A History Deconstructed. Reflections in Black, while not a comprehensive survey of the history of African American photographers, presents a context for reflecting on the works of many black photographers whose images weave an extremely rich and diverse collective history.

The Smithsonian curator is Deborah Willis, historian, photographer, and author of the book Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present (Norton, 2000). The exhibition tour is organized by Curatorial Assistance Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, California.

The State Museum is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. It is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's days. A $5 per/family, $2 per person donation is always appreciated.

Notes for Editors:

The exhibition is curated by Deborah Willis, curator of exhibitions at the Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution. Willis's awards and fellowships include a MacArthur Fellowship, The International Center for Photography and the Golden Light Photography Book of the Year. Her past books include VanDerZee: the Portraits of James VanDerZee (1993), Lorna Simpson (1992), J.P. Ball: Daguerrean and Studio Photographer (1992), and Picturing Us: African-American Identity in Photography (1994).

This exhibition was funded in part by Giant Food, Howard University Hospital, and Microsoft, with support from NBC4-Washington, D.C.

The Smithsonian's Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture is devoted to increasing public awareness and understanding of the historical experiences and the cultural expressions of people of African decent. Anacostia Museum was established in 1967 and in 1995 merged with the Smithsonian's Center for African American History and Culture.

Curatorial Assistance Traveling Exhibitions (CATE) is a nonprofit organization creating opportunities for access, outreach, and education in the visual arts through the creation and circulation of diverse and innovative exhibitions for museums and art organizations worldwide. CATE fosters collaborations between public and private resources by developing traveling exhibitions that expand public opportunities to view and experience significant works of art.

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*Color slides are available by calling 518-486-2003.