Alanna Airitam Uses Photography to Address History
Museum Gallery Attendant Annabel Morrison shares her favorite work in "Called to the Camera: Black American Studio Photographers": a contemporary photograph by Alanna Airitam.
In this artwork, titled "How to Make a Country," Airitam employs techniques of historical European painting to critique the omission of people of African descent from Western art history narratives. The dramatic effects are produced entirely in the studio, and without digital enhancements.
[Artwork: Alanna Airitam, "How to Make a Country," negative 2019, completed 2022. Pigmented ink print encased in resin, oil paint, and hand-welded metal frame. Courtesy of the artist.]
