Artist
Dawoud Bey (American, born 1953)American, born 1953
CultureAmerican
Titles
- The Thompson's Backyard
- Queens, NY
Date1986
Place depictedQueens, New York, United States
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 6 1/4 × 9 7/16 in. (15.9 × 24 cm)
Sheet: 7 15/16 × 10 in. (20.2 × 25.4 cm)
Sheet: 7 15/16 × 10 in. (20.2 × 25.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of John S. Parsley and Nancy Nolan Parsley
Object number2017.159
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
PhotographySpecial Collections
Object Type
Dawoud Bey’s sensitive portraits illuminate the power of
community and the rich texture of daily life in New York City and its outer
boroughs. Highly influenced by street photography from a young age, Bey
developed a distinctive style of “street portraits” that are both collaborative
and documentary. Working with subjects and communities to develop authentic
presentations of personal identity and everyday lived experiences, Bey creates
photographs that are populated with ordinary people, like the father and
daughter pictured here, smiling and laughing in a backyard in Queens.
ProvenanceThe artist; [Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago]; purchased by John S. Parsley and Nancy Nolan Parsley, Houston, June 2013; given to MFAH, 2017.
Exhibition History"Always Greener: Seeing and Seeking Suburbia—Selections from the Museum’s Collection," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, August 21, 2018–February 3, 2019.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
verso bottom left to right in pencil: The Thompson's Backyard Queens, NY 1986
bottom right: 663.385.3.13
bottom right: 663.385.3.13
verso lower right in pencil: Dawoud Bey 2013
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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