Part 2 of our Saturday morning found us at the Temecula Valley Museum, an amazing resource for ways to impress one's guests. The current exhibit is absolutely incredible... one not to be missed (you have until March 24th)!
Black and White in Black and White features striking photographs attributed to African American photographer John Johnson. Using his Lincoln neighborhood as his canvas, Johnson crafted these ennobling images of his friends and family between 1910 and 1925. Equally as important as Johnson’s depictions of African Americans are his images of blacks, whites, and other racial groups together, an occurrence that was almost unheard of at the time.
In 1965, 16-year-old Douglas Keister, an aspiring photographer, acquired 280 glass plate negatives, originally found at a local garage sale. He immediately made prints from some of the plates, revealing powerful, early 20th-century portraits of African Americans in Lincoln, Nebraska.
“Johnson photographed these people in such an elegant, dignified, noble way,” Keister said, “which is particularly poignant and significant given the segregation at the time, the brutality of the Jim Crow laws, and the presence of the Ku Klux Klan in Lincoln. The Black population is depicted here in a way that seems intentionally counter to that, defiant of that.”
This was a time of great promise and hope for race relations in America. This optimistic era was fueled by what was known at the time as the New Negro Movement, a period which set the stage for the Harlem Renaissance. No one better captured the essence of this time of advancement than the talented photographer John Johnson (pictured above with his wife, Odessa).
Johnson primarily used his neighborhood in Lincoln as his canvas to craft powerful portraits of dignity and hope from 1910 to 1925. Equally as important as Johnson’s ennobling images of African Americans are his images of blacks and whites and other racial groups together, an occurrence that was almost unheard of at the time.
This garage sale treasure trove provided original negatives which is so beneficial for research, as portions can be enlarged to reveal even more details. For example, this enlarged image lets us see that this woman is holding an August 1918 edition of the popular magazine The Ladies Home Journal. It helps to date the photograph.
On display was a copy of that same issue. How truly amazing!
A number of the people depicted in Johnson’s photos and their extended families eventually migrated to California. There, they settled in Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Riverside, Blythe and other cities, and became educators, artists and business owners.
How cool are these colorized photos? Before the widespread availability of color film in the 1950s and 1960s, most photographs were taken in black and white. For special occasions such as weddings and formal portraits, photographers often hand-colored photographs using time-consuming and tedious air brushing and tinting techniques.
Nowadays, digital photographic artists can use a variety of techniques to apply color to old photographs. Members of the "Teach Me to Color" Facebook group colorized the images seen here. Although the artists may not know the precise colors of the clothing or objects in Johnson's photographs, the group refers to vintage clothing, fabric swatches, and other historical research to inform their work.
These reimagined interpretations of John Johnson's photographs give the subjects new life, highlighting details and nuances that were not always readily noticeable in the original versions. Additionally, electronic graphics programs can be used to repair damaged photographs and reassemble broken glass negatives.
These before and after images of Johnson and his fellow workers exemplify the digital reconstruction of a broken negative. It's hard to believe the photo above was taken over 100 years ago.
While I really hope you can see this powerful exhibit in person, this documentary video by Douglas Keister will have to do, if you just can't make it to the Temecula Valley Museum.
John Johnson (1879 to 1953) was the son of a Civil War Veteran and a runaway slave, and though it’s not known exactly how his photographs came to be in someone’s garage 12 years after his death, their impact — and the insights they give to a specific time in Black history — has been nothing short of extraordinary. Yes, this photographic collection is definitely not to be missed!
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