After her passion for the dramatic arts inexplicably dissipated, Tawny Chatmon—no longer keen on the theater career she pursued from her teenage years—devoted her early 20s to learning and experimenting with photography. That self-propelled immersion has spawned a body of thought-provoking work, an homage to “Black childhood, familial bonds, life, and culture,” as the Maryland-based Chatmon puts it, that transcends convention. Photography is just one evocative layer of her creations, for Chatmon likes to play with digital collages and adorn her oft-manipulated images with acrylic paint and 24-karat gold leaf, calling to mind the “costuming and extravagance” of her bygone performing days, she says.
Legacy Building
Prior to the birth of her son, Chatmon never considered turning her lens to children, who are now the stars of her photographs. Organically transformed by motherhood, she was eager to produce “more of what I want to see exist,” a desire to contribute meaningful art that heightened when her father passed away in 2010. Chatmon’s almost-daily documentation of his cancer battle irrevocably altered her relationship with the camera, eventually leading her to focus solely on personal projects “and what I wanted to leave behind when I’m no longer here,” she says. “I began to understand that we don’t live forever, but—like my father’s lessons—our messages will, if powerful enough.”
“Glory,” part of The Redemption series, references Gustav Klimt’s paintings with 24-karat gold leaf flourishes
A Different Story
In her newest series, The Redemption, Chatmon reimagines the gilded paintings from Gustav Klimt’s Golden Phase. By depicting confident Black boys and girls with their afros, locs, and beads, and juxtaposing them with glittering late-19th-century clothing, Chatmon reinforces magnificence and pride “in a world where the hair types and styles that are distinctively akin to Black people are policed and labeled as unkempt, unattractive, and unprofessional,” she explains. Chatmon’s portrayals, then, ultimately remind Black children that they are valued and loved.
Ongoing Celebration
Chatmon views The Redemption as a counter-narrative that aims to dismantle negative stereotypes about Black people. The same could be said for the flowing embroidered garments she illuminates in The Awakening series, inspired by another Austrian painter, Marianne Stokes, as well as her recasting of traditional portraiture in Byzantine Contempo. Her oeuvre feels particularly heady and resonant today, but Chatmon believes its relevance is enduring because discriminatory racist practices and policies will linger until certain systems are overturned. “My work shouldn’t be looked at as a cry for validation, but as a celebration of who we are,” she says. “In spite of everything that has happened, we continue to beautifully bloom, grow, and blossom.”
“Castles” joins The Redemption collection as a tribute to Black hairstyles that aims to break down longstanding stereotypes
This article originally appeared in HD’s August 2020 issue.
