Bayeté Ross Smith and Curator Kalia Brooks
Artist and photographer Bayeté Ross Smith began his career as a photojournalist, working with the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Charlotte Observer and New York Newsday.
Since receiving his MFA from California College of the Arts, Bayeté has exhibited work in galleries, museums and other public venues both nationally and internationally, and his work has appeared in numerous books and magazines as well. In this conversation, he and curator Kalia Brooks discuss the works featured in Passing, his first solo show in New York City.
Kalia Brooks: When did you realize you wanted to pursue photography professionally as an artist?
Bayeté Ross Smith: In my junior year at Florida A&M University I changed my major to photography, which was in the School of Journalism. A year later, I got a job working at the local newspaper taking photographs. My foundation as a photojournalist is a very important part of my art practice.
KB: How so?
BRS: My work has a documentary aspect that is a direct result of my photojournalism experience. It adds a certain honesty to the work.
KB: The studio is a major component in the production of your work. Could you explain how you construct the studio space to affect the viewer’s perception of the image?
BRS: I do my best to remove all the circumstantial factors like environment, emotion, and changes in lighting. The process of staging in each photograph encourages the viewer to focus on certain attributes in the image, primarily clothing in combination with race and gender. I isolate the subject’s face to instigate the viewer’s “gut reaction” to the image. I use a standard white studio backdrop to create an aesthetic that references “official” identification portraiture such as a passport, driver’s license or mug shot.
KB: The majority of your work seems to be centered on the notion of identity. Why do you choose to study this idea?
BRS: I use the camera to document the ways in which identity is created, interpreted and expressed in the world. I am curious about the individual’s sense of self, rather than the assumptions that are placed upon that individual. My work is very much about the viewer, and what one brings to the work from personal experience.
KB: How are you exploring identity in the series Passing?
BRS: The concept of identity is instrumental in our perception and interaction with one another. With this work I want viewers to consider their own preconceived notions regarding nationality. There are various prejudices and stigmas associated with certain countries. I am questioning who, based on nationality, has access to the resources of 21st century “global” society. Passports are the ultimate identity document; they define who we are to the entire world. With the “right” passport you can move freely around the world and gain access to most of its resources. Without the right passport one’s freedom of movement is restricted.
KB: What was your approach in Passing?
BRS: I took several pictures and placed them on photographic reproductions of different passports from around the world. I used an ethnic-looking light skinned person (actually a Black American) who could be perceived as multi-racial; I used a person who would less ambiguously read as Black; and a blonde woman who reads as white. The first person represents the generic human, who looks like they could be from almost any country in the world. I wanted to examine how we think differently of him based on nationality. The other two represent our differing perceptions about various nationalities once the idea of race is combined with nationality. The woman also brings gender into question. The entire series includes eleven different countries from North America, South America, The Caribbean, Europe and Africa.
I wanted to contrast wealthy nations with developing nations, colonial powers with non-colonial, Muslim countries with Christian and Jewish, and, of course, contrast the languages on all these passports. I was intrigued by how passports are designed to represent the culture of the country they are from.
KB: How do you see this series in relation to your other work?
BRS: A large part of my work focuses on identity and its role in humanity. Our Kind Of People looks at clothing, race, skin tone and gender, and how that affects our perception of an individual. Work like Pomp and Circumstance looks at self-expression and identity at a particular, highly symbolic moment in time: the Prom. Portraits of Vacancy is about making portraits of communities devoid of people. Here I am looking at how the spaces people occupy tell us about these people’s identities and vice versa. Passing is a direct examination of identity. My other work takes a less direct approach.
Bayeté Ross Smith is represented by the Patricia Sweetow Gallery, in San Francisco, California.
