Our mission is to celebrate and empower everyday Black Americans of the past by showcasing real photo postcard photographs that Black Americans took themselves and/or had control over their self-presentation.
We understand the power of images and narrative, and want to allow Black Americans to present themselves. We hope to populate the internet with images that challenge negative perceptions of Black Americans, and in doing so create a space for identity foster empathy.
Conceived through the class “Collections Remix” at Hopkins, which explored JHU’s archives, special collection, and art in order to highlight the presence and contributions of African Americans, ‘American Selfie’ sought to showcase a collection of Real Photo Postcards taken by the subjects.
In truth, my partner in the project and I fell in love with these postcards. They offered tiny glimpses into the lives of the people featured on them.
The exhibit was installed in Brody Learning Commons in February 2018 through April, though it was extended through May. A display case featured a handful of the photographs, while the walls on either side explained the history of Real Photo Postcards and the significance of the 1,000 postcards in the JHU Special Collections. The rest of the postcards were displayed on a TV monitor.
Additionally, we wanted to add an interactive component to the exhibit in the form of a ‘selfie station’ and the hashtag #American Selfie, allowing people to draw comparisons between historical and modern forms of self expression. Submissions were displayed on a rotating basis.
In the original proposal, the postcards would live physically in the exhibit and on an open online database.
Read more in The Hub article.
Monika Borkovic 