Berkeley, California: Sons and
daughters of members of the
Black Panther Party march in
front of the office, 1971
Photo by Stephen Shames.
Between 1967 and 1973, Shames, then a young white man from Cambridge, MA, was asked by Bobby Seales to be official photographer of the Black Panther Party.
Mr. Seale becoming moots= one of my personal most awestruck twitter moments. trite phrase but a literal living legend!!
this photo is glorious✨️ would be amazing to hear from the kids today
Yes, I didn't know that women made up 65% of The Black Panther Party.
"Comrade sisters" ran community schools, free medical clinics, voter registration sites , community nutrition programs, and elder care centers across the country.
The photos are from north, south, east & west coast, mid-west.
I love the Stephen Shames photos of the Black Panthers (I like all his stuff). B&W photography has some magic that was never captured after it basically went away. Maybe it's the silver t-particles, I have no idea, but converting a digital color photo to black & white doesn't have that magic.
I had never heard of him until I recently saw this exhibit. His role and the photos themselves also showed how interracial the Black Panthers' coalition was.
And something about B&W photos, every single one, and everyone in them, are incredibly beautiful. Seems to capture inner beauty and soul.
Even I, a no-count photographer , could wander around inner city Detroit (the most photogenic city maybe) and take B&W photos that'd hit me at some different level.
Professionals using B&W film is the ultimate for archival level stuff.
The 10 principles of the Black Panthers were great ones
