Portraits of Whoopi Goldberg, Serena Williams, Sean “Diddy” Combs and other prominent African American figures are on display at the National Portrait Gallery as part of The Black List exhibit, part of a larger project that includes a book, museum tour and three HBO documentaries.
The collection, which opened today, includes 50 large-scale images of figures in the project conceived by photographer/filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, with Elvis Mitchell, public radio host and former New York Times film critic. [See some of the exhibit portraits in the slideshow at left.]
The pair came up with a list of people whom they believed would represent the African-American experience in the 20th century. Greenfield-Sanders created large-format fine-art photographs, while Mitchell interviewed the subjects on film.
Between 2007 and 2009, the pair arranged 50 interviews – a mix of African American celebrities, politicians and other prominent figures that ranged from actors Laurence Fishburne and Tyler Perry to businessman Richard Parsons, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Gap fashion designer Patrick Robinson. The project also includes influential but lesser-known figures, such as playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and urban environmentalist Majora Carter.
"We knew we needed to have some celebrities," Greenfield-Sanders told the AP. "You sell it by having Fishburne and Chris Rock and the other people that draw them in, and then they learn something from these other people."
"The Black List: Volume 1' premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2008 and then in August of that year on HBO. Two follow up documentaries, “The Black List: Volume 2” and “The Black List: Volume 3” followed in 2009 and 2010, respectively. [Watch clips from each film in the video player at left.]
After filming interviews with each subject, Greenfield-Sanders asked for a portrait sitting. The Smithsonian exhibit is the first to feature all 50 portraits from “The Black List” project and will remain at the National Portrait Gallery through April 2012.
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