Women Heal through Rite and Ritual

Lavett Ballard | Tawny Chatmon | Oletha DeVane | Shanequa Gay | Delita Martin | Elsa Muñoz | Renée Stout | exhibition page

Tawny Chatmon

It is my belief that our memories and experiences are directly responsible for who we become. What we are exposed to, what we read, the toys we play with as children, what we view… I attribute this thought to my deep-seated desire to make sure I’m sending a clear message (with my work) and that the message I am sending is “saying something” important; because if I believe we are shaped by our memories, as an artist, I must also believe that I too play a small part in shaping and shifting the views of anyone who comes in contact with my life’s work.

The primary theme that drives my art practice is celebrating the beauty of black childhood. I am devoted to creating portraits that are loosely inspired by works painted during the 15th-19th centuries with the specific intent of bringing to the forefront faces that were often under-celebrated in this style of work.

My camera remains my primary tool of communication, while my constant exploration of diverse ways of expression moves me to add several different layers using a variety of mediums. After a portrait session is complete, I typically digitally manipulate my subjects and unite them with other photographic components to achieve a work that is a new photographic expression. Often lending to them the eyes of someone their elder and more wise and almost always exaggerating their hair and features in a somewhat rebellious celebratory way (in doing so, I unapologetically honor traits and characteristics often deemed unsightly in Western culture). Thereafter, I may superimpose antique patterns and textures, vintage botanical and wildlife illustrations or hand drawn digital illustration. If I feel I am not yet complete, after each portrait is refined and printed, I may combine paint and gilding adding ornamental elements inspired by 19th century artworks.

It is my hope that with each theme I explore and with each portrait I create, something vital is etched into the memory of the viewer.

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Biography | Resume

Biography
My work and life have gone through many phases that have lead me to create the work I do today. I attribute this evolution to three major shifts: The decision to no longer pursue a career in dramatic arts, the birth of my first child and the death of my father.

Before becoming a photographer, I was a performer. My early childhood consisted of traveling from continent to continent as an “army brat”. After settling in the United States, my pre-teens to early adulthood was spent performing in plays put on by my aunts theater company, dinner theatre programs, school plays, attending acting workshops and the like. After receiving a small scholarship for dramatic arts in High School I enrolled in a dramatic arts conservatory, was cast in an off Broadway play, had been an extra in just enough films making me eligible to receive my Union card…and out of nowhere, I quit. Having no idea what to do next or how I would creatively earn a living, I turned to photography.

At 19, I was gifted my first camera. Photography was not new to me although considering it a career choice was. I floated through ages 20-24 self-teaching, exploring with various genres of photography and using my camera as a means of making a living. During this time, I also began learning Photoshop and taking on graphic and web design jobs.

Photographing children was something that never crossed my mind before becoming a mother. After the birth of my son, my life organically became about documenting his life. Ages 25-28 were almost exclusively dedicated to my joy of photographing him. This expanded to documenting these moments for family members which then lead to offering to do so for other families as well.

My first experience working in commercial photography came after being recommended by a client for a local commercial job. Afterwards, I began to seriously pursue other opportunities shooting for (or providing photographs for) YMCA, Until There’s a Cure and NEA and publications such as Vogue Bambini, Parenting Magazine & Baby Talk Magazine.

In 2010, my outlook and relationship with my camera changed when I began photographing my father’s battle with cancer. What we thought would be a testimony of his victory turned out to be my documentation of cancer taking his life. Not much felt worthy of picking up my camera for after that. With his passing, something in me died, but something else awakened. I began to stop solely looking to my camera as a means of making a living and began using it as a way to communicate my joy, my pain & my frustration.

Now 39, I look to photography less as a career or a job and more as a calling. My work is ever-changing and constantly evolving as am I. The portraits I create today are almost always inspired by my children and usually of someone that I am close to in some way (my daughters, son, God daughter, a relative, or a model that I’ve worked with in the past) and is driven by my desire contribute something important to a world that I want my children to thrive in.

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Artist’s Short

 
One to Watch: Tawny Chatmon