Jon Henry @ Photographic Center Northwest

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Jon Henry @ Photographic Center Northwest

December 11th, 2023 by fstop

Jon Henry, Untitled 33, Jersey City, NJ_2018

Jon Henry: STRANGER FRUIT
January 11 – March 10, 2024

Artist talk and reception: Thursday, January 18th, in-person talk beginning at 6pm with artist reception to follow

“Stranger Fruit was created in response to the senseless murders of black men across the nation by police violence. Even with smart phones and dash cams recording the actions, more lives get cut short due to unnecessary and excessive violence.

Who is next? Me? My brother? My friends? How do we protect these men?

Lost in the furor of media coverage, lawsuits and protests is the plight of the mother. Who, regardless of the legal outcome, must carry on without her child.

I set out to photograph mothers with their sons in their environment, reenacting what it must feel like to endure this pain. The mothers in the photographs have not lost their sons, but understand the reality that this could happen to their family. The mother is also photographed in isolation, reflecting on the absence. When the trials are over, the protesters have gone home and the news cameras are gone, it is the mother left. Left to mourn, to survive.

The title of the project is a reference to the song ‘Strange Fruit.’ Instead of black bodies hanging from the Poplar Tree, these fruits of our families, our communities, are being killed in the street.”

Photographic Center Northwest
900 12th Ave
Seattle, WA 98122

Location: Seattle, Washington Type: Exhibition

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