The Way She Looks

Join Nia Centre for the Arts and the Ryerson Image Centre as we celebrate the artistic accomplishments of 7 talented youth photographers.

The Way She Looks: Youth Showcase is a presentation of portrait photography developed in response to the The Way She Looks: A History of Female Gazes in African Portraiture exhibition.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Over the course of three weeks, participants worked closely with facilitators Anique Jordan, Michele Pearson Clarke, and Ella Cooper to explore the history, practices, techniques of portraiture photography, while also exploring ideas of race, self, performance, and more. The works developed present a unique perspective into the artistic minds of each participant, but how their portraits have been influenced by the The Way She Looks exhibition. This program is presented in partnership with Nia Centre and the Ryerson Image Centre’s Youth in Focus.

Featuring photography by:

Chanel Carter

Idil Dhafer

Kourtney Jackson

Fabio Tavares Manuel

Hermmela Tafesse

Ashley Meza-Wong

Warda Youssouf

ABOUT “THE WAY SHE LOOKS: A HISTORY OF FEMALE GAZES IN AFRICAN PORTRAITURE”

Drawn from the extraordinary holdings of The Walther Collection, The Way She Looks revisits the history of African photographic portraiture through the perspectives of women, both as sitters and photographers. Spanning the beginnings of colonial photography on the continent to the present day, the exhibition features contemporary works by female artists, including Yto Barrada, Jodi Bieber, Lebohang Kganye, Zanele Muholi, Grace Ndiritu, and Nontsikelelo “Lolo” Veleko alongside 1950s studio portraits by such important historical figures as Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keïta, and nineteenth-century prints, cartes de visite, postcards, and albums.