Carrie Mae Weems is a photographer who is known for mixing reality with personal fiction. She is a photographer who employs narrative structures in her photographs to investigate stereotypes of race and gender. Throughout the nineties, her works revolved around gender issues, which was the main issue, in the Kitchen Table Series. There are a total of twenty silver gelantin prints in this series. Weems appears in the photographs. She is always sitting at the kitchen table with a house light directly above her. The photographs are a depiction of an invented love story that revolves around a woman’s identity in relation to her male partner and child. There is a place for the viewer at the end of the table, which comes to the edge of the frame. The lighting and positioning of Weems in this photo helps set up the space around the table as a set where drama will unfold. Throughout the series Weems is photographed alone at the table, accompanied by a male, with friends, and a child who is re appears at the edge of the frame. This series relies on sequential imaging to showcase the idea of gender issues.
Weems is also known to use a variety of media to explore stereotypes of race and gender. One of my favorites is from a series titled “From here I saw what happened and I cried “, made in 1995-1996. The series consist of toned prints. Weems reconfigured old artifacts and photographs that contain record of African American culture, and included text to comment on topics such as racism. Take a look at her work; she has large selection of works that are striking
http://carriemaeweems.net/work.html
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