Congratulations to Rashod Taylor whose Little Black Boy series continues to enjoy the attention and patronage of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Three additional photographs from Taylor’s ongoing project have entered the MFAH’s permanent collection. This brings their holdings to six prints.
Little Black Boy by Rashod Taylor is an ongoing study of the Black American experience. The long form photographic series began in 2018 when the artist’s son, LJ was about three and will continue as he comes of age. The work gains power through intimacy. It is emboldened by the frameworks and methods allied with the history of fine art portraiture, and claims new ground for who it depicts and how that image functions in public view. “I want to keep the conversation going in terms of the black experience and elevate the depiction of black life which has been very much one sided by media and in the consciousness of America,” says Taylor.
Through Little Black Boy artist and viewers contemplate one family’s narrative within contemporary America. "There's this idea that I can lose him in an instant and I can't control that," Taylor told CNN for an interview that accompanied a 2022 Father’s Day feature of the work. He went on:
It's one of those things that while I am a very proud American and glad I live in this great country, but at the same time, it's almost like a daily struggle because you live in a place where people with black and brown skin are still not treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve.
20 x 24 in. silver print
Edition of 10