Weems, Carrie Mae
1953-present · Contribution: 1980s-present
Photography and interdisciplinary art combining staged images, text, audio, and video to examine race, gender, family, and power in American life; best known for 'The Kitchen Table Series' (1990)

Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Impact on the world
A leading contemporary American photographer; in 2014 she became the first Black woman to have a retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum. MacArthur Fellow (2013) and National Medal of Arts (2022).
Life & background
African-American artist born April 20, 1953 in Portland, OR. Studied modern dance before turning to photography; influenced by Roy DeCarava and The Black Photographers Annual. Artist-in-residence at Syracuse University.
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica; The Guggenheim
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