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Who’s Zoomin’ Who?: The Eyes of Donyale Luna

Publication ,  Journal Article
Powell, RJ
Published in: Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art
November 1, 2016

The most iconic image that accompanied the 1996 publication of 20th Century Photography: Museum Ludwig, Cologne—and one that continues to intrigue scholars of black diasporic visual culture—was the German photographer Charlotte March’s black-and-white photograph Donyale Luna with Earrings (1966), shot for twen magazine. March’s subject—the African American fashion model and actress Donyale Luna (1945–79)—is of great historical significance, not only because Luna was the first internationally acclaimed black fashion model, but also because she had an especially arresting, black diasporic visage at a time of European American aesthetic hegemony in high fashion and limited opportunities for black visibility in the mass media. This article tracks the conceptualization of Charlotte March’s singular portrait of Donyale Luna, putting it in its broader historical context and, relatedly, as a pivotal image from a sequence of contiguous photographic statements and counterstatements by several of the leading fashion photographers from the Swinging Sixties. What this account points to is the often undertheorized role of race and gender in modern visual studies and, in particular, this picture’s implicit metanarrative of black female agency and civil rights–era cultural defiance. The social contract between the photographer and “the sitter” is also explored in this article, arguing that when the sitter is an imposing African American artist/performer/observer, the photographer—and by extension, the portrait’s audience—finds herself in the unique, deferential position of being in the sitter’s own metaphorical, critical purview.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art

DOI

ISSN

1075-7163

Publication Date

November 1, 2016

Volume

2016

Issue

38-39

Start / End Page

14 / 21

Publisher

Duke University Press

Related Subject Headings

  • 1905 Visual Arts and Crafts
  • 1901 Art Theory and Criticism
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Powell, R. J. (2016). Who’s Zoomin’ Who?: The Eyes of Donyale Luna. Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art, 2016(38–39), 14–21. https://doi.org/10.1215/10757163-3641634
Powell, Richard J. “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?: The Eyes of Donyale Luna.” Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art 2016, no. 38–39 (November 1, 2016): 14–21. https://doi.org/10.1215/10757163-3641634.
Powell RJ. Who’s Zoomin’ Who?: The Eyes of Donyale Luna. Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art. 2016 Nov 1;2016(38–39):14–21.
Powell, Richard J. “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?: The Eyes of Donyale Luna.” Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art, vol. 2016, no. 38–39, Duke University Press, Nov. 2016, pp. 14–21. Crossref, doi:10.1215/10757163-3641634.
Powell RJ. Who’s Zoomin’ Who?: The Eyes of Donyale Luna. Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art. Duke University Press; 2016 Nov 1;2016(38–39):14–21.
Journal cover image

Published In

Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art

DOI

ISSN

1075-7163

Publication Date

November 1, 2016

Volume

2016

Issue

38-39

Start / End Page

14 / 21

Publisher

Duke University Press

Related Subject Headings

  • 1905 Visual Arts and Crafts
  • 1901 Art Theory and Criticism