Black Photojournalism

Heinz Galleries Sept. 13, 2025–Jan. 19, 2026

Photojournalism is work and it is livelihood, it is craft and it is documentation, it is a way to be in the world and to share the world, it is a way to resist oppression while insisting on the fullness of life.

Black Photojournalism presents work by nearly 60 photographers chronicling historic events and daily life in the United States from the conclusion of World War II in 1945 to the presidential campaigns of 1984, including the civil rights movements through the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. Drawn from archives and collections in the care of journalists, libraries, museums, newspapers, photographers, and universities, the original work prints in the exhibition were circulated and reviewed in publishing offices before anything went to print. Each one represents the energy of many dedicated individuals who worked to get out the news every single day. One picture leads to another, making visible multiple experiences of history while proposing ways of understanding today as tomorrow is being created.

Responding to a dearth of stories about Black lives told from the perspectives of Black people, Black publishers and their staff created groundbreaking editorial and photojournalistic methods and news networks. During a period of urgent social change and civil rights advocacy, newspapers and magazines, including the Afro American News, Atlanta Daily World, Pittsburgh Courier, Chicago Defender, and Ebony, transformed how people were able to access seeing themselves and their communities. Their impact on the media landscape continues into the digital present.

The exhibition, designed by artist David Hartt, is co-organized by Dan Leers, curator of photography, and Charlene Foggie-Barnett, Charles “Teenie” Harris community archivist, in dialogue with an expanded network of scholars, archivists, curators, and historians.

Exhibition Trailer

people at a ceremony — Learn more about *Black Photojournalism* from the curators of the exhibition.

Podcast View All →

Black Photojournalism is a podcast featuring conversations between contemporary artists, journalists, historians, and photographers. Hosted by renowned author and journalist Mark Whitaker, the series explores this period of urgent social change and civil rights advocacy in different cities and regions around the nation.

Ming Smith, America Seen Through Stars and Stripes

Black Photojournalism Episode 7: New York City

Podcasts

Black Photojournalism Episode 6: Chicago

Podcasts

Black Photojournalism Episode 5: The South

Podcasts

Jesse Jackson supporters during his speech to the 1984 Democratic Convention

Black Photojournalism Episode 4: California

Podcasts

people outside Cosmetiques campaign rally at Moulin Rouge

Black Photojournalism Episode 3: Las Vegas

Podcasts

Installation Views

Events and Programs

Black Photojournalism Opening Celebration

Sat., Sept. 13, 2025, 10 a.m.

Celebrate the exhibition Black Photojournalism and the featured photographers, many of whom will be present, with a day full of talks and tours accompanied by a light continental breakfast.

Party

Curatorial Close Look:
Black Photojournalism

Sat., Dec. 6, 2025, 2 p.m.

Join Charles “Teenie” Harris community archivist, Charlene Foggie Barnett in looking closely at the photographs presented in Black Photojournalism.

Tours

Curatorial Close Look: Black Photojournalism

Sat., Jan. 3, 1 p.m.

Join Charles “Teenie” Harris community archivist, Charlene Foggie Barnett in looking closely at the photographs presented in Black Photojournalism taken by women photojournalists.

Tours

Empowered Educators: Black Photojournalism

Thurs., Jan. 15, 5 p.m.

Join Empowered Educators as we explore photographs from Black Photojournalism. Together, we will look closely and engage in meaningful dialogue about the stories these images continue to tell during times of oppression. In this workshop, we will identify, observe, and practice creative approaches for helping educators and students share their own stories within teaching and learning communities.

Workshops

people in the galleries looking at black and white photographs on the wall

Black Photojournalism Closing Celebration

Sat., Jan. 17, 11 a.m.

Join us for a day of connecting the photographs within Black Photojournalism to the histories we live in the wake of, the questions we ask now, and the way we envision our futures.

Symposia

Collaborators and Partners

Exhibition Designer

David Hartt, artist and Associate Professor, Department of Fine Arts, University of Pennsylvania

Research Associate

Jessica C. Neal, Vanguard Archives Consulting, Mobile, Alabama

Past and Present Advisors

Dr. Adam M. Silvia, Curator of Photography, Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress
Dr. Aaron Mayes, Curator for Visual Materials, University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries Special Collections
Dr. Benjamin Talton, Director, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University
Dr. Dalila Scruggs, Augusta Savage Curator of African American Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum
Deborah Willis, University Professor and Chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging, New York University
Derek T. Mosley, Archivist/Division Director, Auburn Avenue Research Library
Dorothy Berry, Digital Curator, National Museum of African American History and Culture
Jackie Martin, Prints and Photographs Librarian, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University
Dr. Joy Bivins, Director, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library
Kimberly Henderson, Digital Curator, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library
Mwalimu Kofi Acree, Director for the John Henrik Clarke Africana Library and Curator of Africana Collections for the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University
Lela Sewell Williams, Director of Collections, National Geographic Society
Kayla Annan, Collection Development Archivist of African American Collections, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University Libraries
Dr. Nicole Fleetwood, James Weldon Johnson Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication in the Steinhardt School at New York University
Dr. Keith Rice, Historian/Archivist, Tom & Ethel Bradley Center, California State University, Northridge
Steven D. Booth, Archive Manager, Johnson Publishing Company Archive, Getty Research Institute
Tina M. Campt, Roger S. Berlind ’52 Professor of Humanities, Princeton University
Alan Govenar, President of Documentary Arts, Inc.

Collections Featured

AFRO-American News, Afro Charities, Baltimore
Atlanta Daily World, Emory University, Atlanta
Austin Hansen Collection, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York
Charles “Teenie” Harris Archive, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
Clinton Wright Photographs, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Documentary Arts, Inc., Dallas
Documerica, National Archives, Washington, DC
Era Bell Thompson Papers, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature, Chicago
The Withers Collection Museum & Gallery, Memphis
Los Angeles Sentinel photographer archives, Tom & Ethel Bradley Center, California State University, Northridge
Harmon Perry Collection, Auburn Avenue Research Library, Atlanta
Harry Adams Archive, Palmdale, CA
Amsterdam News photograph archive, Cornell University, Ithaca
NAACP Photography Archive, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Pittsburgh Courier Washington Bureau, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University, Washington, DC
Robert McNeill Collection, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Presented By

Support

Black Photojournalism is presented by BNY.

Major support for this exhibition has been provided by the Virginia Kaufman Endowment. Significant support for this exhibition has been provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Black Photojournalism has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.

Additional support for this exhibition has been provided by the Massey Charitable Trust.

Support for this exhibition’s catalogue has been provided by Arts, Equity, & Education Fund^TM, the Wyeth Foundation for American Art, and John Bauerlein.

In-kind support for this exhibition has been provided by Herman Miller.

Carnegie Museum of Art’s exhibition program is supported by the Carnegie Museum of Art Exhibition Fund and The Fellows of Carnegie Museum of Art.

Carnegie Museum of Art is supported by The Heinz Endowments and Allegheny Regional Asset District. Carnegie Museum of Art receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.