In Your Own Sweet Way
Personal and intimate collection of conversations across the African continent, culled from field trips ranging over a period of almost 30 years, the 72 images within the book, as stated by writer, Michele Wallace, in the introduction to the book, “are telling us at least one hundred very concrete things about that which we may think we already know, but don’t know nearly well enough of contemporary African cities.”
Description
“In Your Own Sweet Way,” the fourth book by Jules Allen, documents an intimate, personal dialogue of the streets, back alleys, household settings, beaches and landscapes of several countries in Africa. Culled from field trips ranging over a period of almost 30 years, the 72 images within the book, as stated by writer, Michele Wallace, in the introduction to the book, “are telling us at least one hundred very concrete things about that which we may think we already know, but don’t know nearly well enough of contemporary African cities.”
Introduction by Michelle Wallace. Published by QCC Art Gallery Press.
Released September 2013
Additional information
| Weight | 2.269 lbs |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 12.913 × 9.724 × .669 in |
| Publisher | Publisher : QCC Gallery – City University of New York (January 1, 2013) |
| Original Release | Introduction by Michelle Wallace. Published by QCC Art Gallery Press. Released September 2013 |
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Photography At Its Best
Jules Allen has been making photographs with the small 35mm camera for more than four decades. He has also recently added the panoramic camera as one of his picture making tools. But both are still hand held, and it is that fact and his sharp eye that makes for the amazing work in this book. Allen is interested in using the camera as a tool for spontaneous expression, one that matches the level of expression of his subjects. In this way he is like a fine jazz or blues musician, improvising in the moment in a way that is both spontaneous, deep, and unpremeditated. It is something that only those with deep training in their art form, a deep thirst for life, and a belief that it all matters are able to do. And Allen does it extremely and consistently well. Using black and white film as opposed to the now commonplace digital media gives these pictures a richness and sensuousness that so much of contemporary photography has forgotten it is capable of.
His subjects are black men, women, and children. Allen has traveled the US and African diaspora in pursuit of his pictures, wrapping himself around the various activities of his subjects and places and coming away with photographs that show us both what they look and feel like to this one individual. This book is a testament to one photographers hard and impassioned work on behalf of a subject and a people often taken for granted or cast in a stereotypical light when they are cast in any light at all. In the light and frame of this photographer they exist as a deeply expressive presence.
Get this book, and spend some time with it. The pictures between the pages of In Your Own Sweet Way will continue to reward the patient and attentive viewer.
Vision Sublime
Photographer Jules Allen has been at the forefront of Black American Photography for the past 40 years. From San Francisco to New York and Harlem to New Orleans and Africa, he has been on a journey photographing in the streets, portraying and capturing Black American life and culture. His body of work through these years has possessed a clarity and rhythm and the magic of light. And now that journey has brought him to present his latest work in a book of photographs made in Africa, called “In Your Own Sweet Time”. These images are an achievement of photographic art, made with love for black and white film photography and the classic print. Technically it is the work of a modern master. But it is the content of the images that makes this book so special. Photos taken on the streets and beaches of Africa of groups and portraits of men, women and children cause the viewer to stop and look deeper and think, “I know those faces, gestures and expressions”. Jules Allen’s journey, his exploration of the Diaspora has lead him to images that says – Home. His photos capture the familiarity of the looks, the smiles and gestures on a group of boys. The walk of a woman dressed in her finery echoes Black American women on their way to church on a Sunday morning. For all these years Jules Allen’s photography has been a portrait of who we are in America and in going to Africa he has presented where we came from.
Culturally Enlightening
I was trained by this prolific photographer so I was very excited to buy this book. Thanks Jules.
I suggest you order this book that lets you travel places in a raw, realistic way. Jules’ talent extends past the lens in that he has almost no presence at all to his subjects. He’s stealthy or either he fits in so well that the subjects are not violated by the presence of his camera, as people often are. That in itself as a photographer is the biggest feat. To capture the photograph without disturbing its essence.