Curator and Scholar Deborah Willis Examines Race & Photography in African American Imagery
Deborah Willis, PhD, curator of the exhibition, Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits, is the Chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She also has an affiliated appointment as a University Professor with the College of Arts and Sciences, Africana Studies. Her awards include fellowships from: 2000 MacArthur, 2005 Guggenheim and 2005 Fletcher; she is also the recipient of a 1996 Anonymous Was a Woman Foundation award. Professor Willis has pursued a dual career as an art photographer and is one of the nation’s leading historians of African American photography. She has recently received the Honored Educator award at the Society for Photographic Education. Her exciting lecture will include a multi-media presentation on the exhibition. Dr. Willis will also discuss and sign copies of her latest book, Michelle Obama: The First Lady in Photographs, which garnered her the 2010 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography.