Women of a New Tribe (BOOK REVIEW)
Women of a New Tribe:
A Photographic Celebration of the Black Woman
by Jerry Taliaferro
Amazon Digital Services
Digital Edition, $8.00
180 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9797309-0-0
Book
Review by Kam Williams
“African-American
females have had a very difficult history: from slavery to racism to poverty.
Although slavery has been abolished in this country, and we are working on
eradicating racism and poverty, in the 21st Century,
African-American females face one of the most difficult hurdles we have ever
had to face: a severe lack of self-respect.
We have allowed the
media to make us believe that we must have straight hair, light skin, thin
bodies and ’European’ features to be considered beautiful. This book is not
only an opportunity to reaffirm to all black women that we are ‘fearfully and
wonderfully made’ by God, but also an opportunity for everyone to see the
emotions and beauty Jerry Taliaferro wrought through his camera lens.”
--
Cheryl A. M. Waymer, mother and model,
as excerpted from the Foreword (pg. 7)
“These beautiful
women have always been around us. They are our wives, mothers, sisters,
daughters and friends. We can see the beauty in them if we just try. Perhaps in
seeing their beauty, we will come to see what makes a woman truly beautiful…
Just maybe we will come to understand that real beauty is more than that which
can be seen. Real beauty is that which lifts us, real beauty touches our
hearts.”
-- Jerry Taliaferro in the Preface (pg. 10)
Jerry
Taliaferro is a West Point graduate who turned
to photography full-time after leaving the military in 1988 following a
decorated career in the service as a Special Forcers Officer. Over the
intervening years, he has met with considerable success at his true calling,
though devoting most of his attention to commercial assignments.
Recently, however, after preparing a
single portrait of an African-American female originally intended simply to
serve as a sample in his portfolio, Jerry was struck by the fact that “Very
little attention had been paid to the beauty of the black woman. The black
woman was almost invisible.” So, he came up with the novel idea of portraying
sisters in a glamorous style from the Forties reminiscent of the classic, black
and white fashion shoots of such classic Hollywood
actresses as Greta Garbo and Katherine Hepburn.
The upshot
of his efforts is an enchanting, emotionally-engaging and
spiritually-stimulating masterpiece entitled “Women of a New Tribe: A
Photographic Celebration of the Black Woman.” Taliaferro proves himself to be
quite a gifted artist behind the camera with this eclectic collection of over
100 photos. For the images of this impressive collection achieve far more than
merely capturing each model’s physical beauty. No, the pictures also magically
reveal an intimate aspect of the subjects’ souls as well.
It is noteworthy that this
groundbreaking tome features a rainbow of African-American females in terms of
color, shape, size and age, and not just ones who meet a shallow Eurocentric
standard of beauty. “What about the jet black goddess with skin like glass, the
caramel toned Amazon or the Great-Grandmother whose beauty defies time?” the
author asks in the Introduction. “This book is an attempt to see them too.”
Indeed, an
overdue homage which wonderfully elevates and illustrates both the inner and
outer beauty of all sisters, a segment of society often taken for granted, if
not denigrated or marginalized by the mainstream culture.
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