Album Photography as National Archive
Unfolding New Histories of African-American Memory through the Lens of Laura Fitzpatrick (1927-1987)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22259926 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jennings Tangly (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Photographica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2740-5826 • E-ISSN: 2780-8572 |
| Publisher | OpenEdition (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.4000/16b0u |
| OpenAlex | W7163037853 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 14 |
Laura Fitzpatrick (1927-1987), an Alabama-born Black amateur photographer compiled 350 images taken between 1938 and 1948 in an album that is now part of the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s (NMAAHC, Washington D.C.) permanent collection. The object is a valuable case study of African-American photo-history: a vernacular, self-affirming depiction of mid 20th century Black lives in Brooklyn prior to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. At the intersections of African-American history and material culture, the object calls for a study into the role of haptics in the understanding of photographic albums. Fitzpatrick’s collection epitomizes the link between materiality and emotion. Its body informs intersubjective relationships specific to each viewer engaging with the photo-album. Fitzpatrick’s work is a compelling example of the photographic album’s (re)purposing within the private and public spheres. This article explores the layered stakes of the object’s existence and seeks to contextualize the meanings of 1940s African-American vernacular self-representation
Amateur · Depiction · History of photography · Photography · Public history · Vernacular · Art, Politics, and Modernism · Literature, Film, and Journalism Analysis · Photography and Visual Culture
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |