Looking to add style to your home and get inspiration? We have the perfect list of black photography books for your coffee table. These books are full of Black Girl Magic and are heirlooms to pass down to your daughters, granddaughters, sisters, nieces and more. Check out this list below and share images of your favorite coffee table books with us using the hashtag #blacksouthernbelle
Black Girl Magic Photography Books for Your Coffee Table
I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America
Featuring a foreword by Maya Angelou, a newly revised and updated tenth anniversary edition celebrates the achievements of an extraordinary group of African-American women who have had an ongoing effect on our world, from Septima Clark and Barbara Jordan to Clara McBride and Betty Shabazz.
Jewels: 50 Phenomenal Black Women Over 50
Photographer Michael Cunningham (coauthor of Crowns) and author Connie Briscoe, a New York Times bestselling novelist, profile 50 women over the age of 50 who have been remarkably successful–whether in reaching the top of the corporate ladder, finding fame in politics or the arts, or raising a son to be proud of a single mother–and reveal the ways that they have prevailed despite daunting obstacles. Their stories are paired with Cunningham’s intimate portraits of the women.
Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present
As a student in the 1970s, Deborah Willis came to the realization that images of black beauty, female and male, simply did not exist in the larger culture. Determined to redress this imbalance, Willis examined everything from vintage ladies’ journals to black newspapers, and started what would become a lifelong quest. With more than two hundred arresting images, many previously unpublished, Posing Beauty recovers a world many never knew existed. Historical subjects such as Billie Holiday and Josephine Baker illuminate the past; Angela Davis and Muhammad Ali take us to the civil rights era; Denzel Washington, Lil’ Kim, and Michelle Obama celebrate the present. Featuring the works of more than one hundred photographers, including Carl van Vechten, Eve Arnold, Lee Friedlander, and Carrie Mae Weems, Willis’s book not only celebrates the lives of the famous but also captures the barber shop, the bodybuilding contest, and prom night. Posing Beauty challenges our most fundamental assumptions about what it means to be “beautiful.”
Inspiration: Profiles of Black Women Changing Our World
Inspiration shares the personal stories and unique voices of 30 extraordinary black women. Whether in the White House or on the courts of Wimbledon, in Hollywood or on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House, these women have influenced the social, cultural, and political landscape of this country, and even the world. Luminaries such as Patti LaBelle, Venus Williams, Susan Taylor, and Judith Jamison speak about the challenges they’ve faced and the victories they’ve won throughout their careers. These inspiring black women pass their knowledge and lessons on to a new generation of women in intimate first-person essays and stunning color portraits.
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Michiel is a Black Southern Belle living a lowcountry life. I love all things fashion, home decor and southern! When I am not running around doing fun stuff for Black Southern Belle, I live in antique stores and have a minor obsession with historic homes :)
