LaToya Ruby Frazier Named Infinity Publication Award Recipient

Distinguished American -- and Honorary Southern -- Photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier (see image above) has been named by the International Center of Photography (ICP) the recipient of the 2015 Infinity Publication Award for her Aperture publication The Notion of Family.

Frazier's award citation reads, in part, "In The Notion of Family, her first book, LaToya Ruby Frazier offers an incisive exploration of the legacy of racism and economic decline in America's small towns, as embodied by her hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania. 

"The work also considers the impact of that decline on the community and on her family, creating a statement both personal and truly political—an intervention in the histories and narratives of the region. 

"Frazier has compellingly set her story of three generations—her Grandma Ruby, her mother, and herself—against larger questions of civic belonging and responsibility. 

"The work documents her own struggles and interactions with family and the expectations of community. 

"With The Notion of Family, Frazier enlists the participation of her family—and her mother in particular. 

"In the creation of these collaborative works, Frazier reinforces the idea of art and image-making as a transformative act, a means of resetting traditional power dynamics and narratives, both those of her family and those of the community at large."

Recipients of all the Infinity Awards by for 2015 were honored on Thursday, April 30th, 2015, at a gala at Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers, in New York City. 

The Infinity Awards are widely regarded as among the highest honors for excellence in photography.

In addition to the Infinity Award, Frazier was also named a TED Fellow for 2015.the idea of art and image-making as a transformative act, a means of resetting traditional power dynamics and narratives, both those of her family and those of the community at large."You can see her TED Talk here.  

In 2014, Frazier was also named the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship based on her "prior achievement and exceptional promise" as a photographer.  

 
You can see more of her work here, from the LENS blog of the NY Times. You can find reviews of Frazier's work here.

Frazier does fine work, addressing issues central to the American South as well as to the rest of the nation. 

This is a time in the American South of deep grief, of horror at the awful deeds we have witnessed, and of at least some signs of refusal to continue with the casual tolerance of bigotry we have been willing to indulge in ourselves. 

It is, I hope, a good time to reaffirm that a photographer can use "art and image-making as a transformative act, a means of resetting traditional power dynamics and narratives, both those of her family and those of the community at large."