Exhibition: Rahim Fortune: Between a Memory and Me

Between a Memory and Me features the work of Rahim Fortune (b. 1994). Born in Austin, Texas and raised in the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, Fortune uses photography to interrogate American identity, exploring the connections between the families and communities he photographs and the land they inhabit, the histories embedded in the landscape of the American South, and the traditions they carry forward.

Fortune’s black-and-white photographs from his Hardtack project weave together tender and reverent portraits, vast landscapes, and close-detail studies. Through a focus on Black American life, these words both draw from the history of photography and reframe the history of photographic representation of the South. The work is also deeply personal: it emerged from the artist seeking connection, kinship, and home following the loss of both of his parents. Fortune’s new color photographs, created in response to the Texas African American Photography archive, are exhibited here for the first time. His short film takes us through the fields and roads of rural Texas, lingering lovingly on quiet, exquisite details.

This presentation includes new photographs originally commissioned by Aperture and Documentary Arts.

IMAGE:  Prairie View Homecoming Parade, Prairie View, Texas, 2024