Shine

2022

shine
-noun
A black person, used disparagingly.
(Origin: early 20th century, from shoeshine, for the fact they often shine shoes for richer white folks.)
See also jigaboo, jig, porchmonkey, nigger.
 

Shine exposes the ugliness of black memorabilia as decorative art. The word shine emerged during Jim Crow as a racist slur towards Black people commenting on African Americans who made a living shining the shoes of white people. The glossy surface of these object is designed to exaggerate facial features such as lips, noses and hair.
 

These photographs are made from Tarver’s personal collection taken with large format film camera, printed in black and white on a highly reflective archival paper. While these objects are still collected, some with high values, they represent a legacy of racism and belittlement of a people simply due to skin color.​

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This series was displayed in Philadelphia’s 20/20 Photo Festival​