On View
Not on viewObject number2001.44
Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Washington
Maker
Prentice Herman Polk
(American, 1898-1984)
Daten.d.
Mediumgelatin silver print
Dimensionsmat: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
sheet: 10 × 7 15/16 in. (25.4 × 20.2 cm)
image: 9 9/16 × 6 7/8 in. (24.3 × 17.5 cm)
sheet: 10 × 7 15/16 in. (25.4 × 20.2 cm)
image: 9 9/16 × 6 7/8 in. (24.3 × 17.5 cm)
Credit LinePermanent Collection Fund
Exhibition History"New Accessions to the Permanent Collection," KIA Long Gallery (Dec. 7, 2002 - Feb. 23, 2003).
"The Twentieth Century in Focus: Photographs from the Permanent Collection," KIA (Jan. 25 - Mar. 25, 2002).
"It Speaks to Me," KIA School Commons (Feb. 3 - May 1, 2005).
"The Human Face: Portraits in Photography," KIA Long Gallery (May 5 - Aug. 28, 2007).
"Embracing Diverse Voices: African-American Art in the Collection of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts," KIA Galleries 3&4(Oct. 3 - Nov. 29, 2009).
"Embracing Diverse Voices: 80 Years of African-American Art," KIA Traveling Exhibition, Bakersfield Museum of Art (Dec. 13, 2012 – Mar. 10, 2013).
"Common Ground: African American Art from the Flint Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, and the Muskegon Museum of Art," FIA, Flint, Michigan (Feb. 8 - Apr. 26, 2015), KIA, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (Aug. 21 - Nov. 15, 2015), Muskegon Museum of Arts, Muskegon, Michigan
"Framing Moments: Photography from KIA's Permanent Collection," KIA (Feb. 6 - May 16, 2021)Label TextPrentice Herman Polk, or P.H., as most people called him, believed that photographs give people dignity, respect and immortality. He spent his entire career photographing hundreds of black Americans, attempting to capture the energy and soul of each on film. Whether a close-up portrait that records an intense expression as seen in Phil Rowell or one that tells a story about the figures like Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Washington, Polk provides us with a glimpse into these person's lives and personalities.
Born in Bessemer, Alabama, one of four children and the son of a coal worker and a seamstress, Polk worked his way through school, including night school at the Tuskegee Institute. He opened various photography studios throughout his career and eventually became the Official Photographer of the Tuskegee Institute (now University). Polk held that position from 1939 until his death in 1984. In that capacity, Polk had the opportunity to record the important faces and places of that institution throughout much of the 20th century. But he also photographed the middle class African-Americans who frequented his studio as well as farmers and laborers who reminded him of his Southern rural childhood.
