“Photobooks USA” In Conversation—The Black Yearbook

About this event

Join us at ICP for a conversation between Adraint Bereal, Dr. Deborah Willis, and malaika newsome on the occasion of our latest exhibition, Photobooks USA: 2000-25, featuring Bereal’s The Black Yearbook. Using the impact of the Black Photographer’s Annual as a starting point, Bereal, Willis, and newsome will discuss how frameworks such as the yearbook and family album are employed to share communal histories and its implications for the future of Black storytelling.This program is being offered both in person at ICP, located on NYC's Lower East Side, and online. Tickets to attend the conversation in person are $5 and include access to ICP’s galleries. About the BookWhen photographer Adraint Bereal graduated from the University of Texas, he self-published an impressive volume of portraits, personal statements, and interviews that explored UT’s campus culture and offered an intimate look at the lives of Black students matriculating within a majority white space. Bereal’s work was inspired by his first photo exhibition at the George Washington Carver Museum in Austin, entitled 1.7, that unearthed the experiences of the 925 Black men that made up just 1.7% of UT’s total 52,000 student body.Now Bereal expands the scope of his original project and visits colleges nationwide, from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to predominantly white institutions to trade schools and more. Rather than dwelling on the monolith of trauma often associated with Black narratives, Bereal is dedicated to using honest dialogue to share stories of true joy and triumph amidst the hardships, prejudices, and internal struggles. Using an exciting and eclectic design approach to accompany the portraits and stories, each individual profile effectively conveys the interviewee’s unique voice, tone, and background.The Black Yearbook reframes society’s stereotypical perception of higher education by representing and celebrating the wide range of Black experiences on campuses. About…