In this special Black History Month installment of PROCSSS, I'm sharing new collage work using family photos dating back to the late 1930's/early 1940's and a new art series documenting forgotten L.A. Green Book locations.

The Party (circa late 1930's)

My grandmother Ethel Hall was born in Macon, Georgia in the 1920's. She was the only child of my great-grandparents, who, according to family elders, ran a successful business and were prominent figures in their community. This is important to note because as a result, they could afford to use photography as a way to document their lives in a way that was rare at the time.

About 15 years ago, my older brothers rescued my grandmother’s box of family photos from ruin and entrusted them to me for safekeeping. The archive they found has come to be an invaluable resource in our own genealogy research, providing us with a look at how our family lived 3 generations back. The images used to create this collage are from an unknown party or a gathering sometime in the late 1930's or early 1940's (estimate based on my grandmothers age in the photos). The photographs reveal a scene that contradicts the accepted narrative surrounding Black life at the time.

The more I worked on this project, the more certain details about the setting jumped out at me. All of the guests are dressed immaculately and there is a row of large cars lined up outside the location. Photography must have been an important part of daily life for the people in the pictures, not only are there shots of the event from multiple angles but you can even see another photographer in the background taking pictures.

I don't know much about what brought these people together to celebrate on this day so long ago, but it was clearly important enough to my grandmother that she chose to safeguard these photos and pass them on to us.

Most of all, the first hand depiction of Black family life from almost a century ago is priceless.

Los Angeles Green Book Locations

The newest addition to my design portfolio is a set of illustrated collages featuring photographs from my personal archive of some of the last remaining Green Book locations in Los Angeles. You can read more about the project and view the accompanying artwork at the link below:

https://www.nonstndrd.com/los-angeles-green-book-locations/

My fascination with documenting these forgotten landmarks began back in 2017 when I received a photography assignment from Curbed Los Angeles. That project inspired me to expand my practice and incorporate historically significant sites and landmarks into my work. I have returned to photograph each location multiple times in the years since, recording the sites as gentrification and redevelopment encroach on the surrounding areas.

Thanks for reading and remember, Black history is American history.
-Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin