Bridget R. Cooks, Ph.D.:
John Simmons has been building an archive of Black American life since he was a teenager growing up in Chicago in the 1960s. His unique observational skills have captured poignant moments that otherwise would have passed unnoticed. The selection of photographs curated for this exhibition is a modest offering of the subtle and beautiful ways in which Simmons stops time and encourages viewers to linger. They provide a sample of a lifetime of documentary and creative work in still photographs that spans over fifty years.
Known primarily as a cinematographer, Simmons started his creative life with collage works on paper and photography. He was mentored by photojournalist Robert Sengstacke whose pictures in the Chicago Defender defined Black American culture in the 1960s and ‘70s. As a student at Fisk University, Simmons apprenticed for the great illustrator and muralist, Aaron Douglas, known as the father of the Harlem Renaissance. Simmons’ eye for composition and storytelling in a single image caught the attention of two monumental figures in Black film: Carlton Moss and Ousmane Semène who told him he was really a cinematographer. The potential to contribute to moving pictures is visible in Simmons’ early images such as Parade (1968) which looks like a movie still. Simmons’ camera performs as the protagonist surveying the multi-generational crowd of community members looking to their right from the edge of a Chicago street. A young man running into the shot propels himself in the air to follow Simmons as their eyes meet.
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Негізгі бет John Simmons "Photography is My Heart"
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