“The Return”
Christon Blackman
Photography and Related Media
About this Item
- Title
- “The Return”
- Date
- 2025
- Description
- Work that explores the transition and transformation of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Inspired by African philosophy, family lineage, African art .This works shows the transformation of my personal relationship with Akan Africanisms.
- Artist Statement:
-
My Name is Christon Blackman. I'm a conceptual photographer from Brooklyn, NYC, creating works that investigate the African diaspora. My practice highlights Black beauty, identity, memory, matriarchy, history and culture. My works are rooted in diasporic histories and traditions, drawing from African American, Afro-caribbean/latin and African visual histories. l re-imagine these histories while making connections across the the global Black diaspora
In The Return, I revisit the visual language of West African studio photographers such as Seydou Keita, Malick Sidibe and Sanle Sory. Drawing inspiration from African wax prints and portraiture. I transform these styles into contemporary ideas surrounding culture and identity. Influenced by courses in African Textiles and Afrofuturism taught by Dr. Kristen Laciste, this work reimagines the middle passage and Akan/Asante symbolism through the lens of sankofa-a return through family, memory and portraiture.
- Medium/Materials/Techniques
- Photographs, collage, installation, mixed media
- Program/Course/Exhibition Information
- Program/Degree: Photography and Related Media BFA
- Course: PH 352 Photographic Concepts and Exhibition
- Semester: Fall 2025, Semester 5
- Professor: Andina Clarkson
- Rights
- In Copyright
- The copyright for this work is held by its author/creator(s). Usage of this material beyond what is permitted by copyright law must first be cleared with the rights-holder(s). This work has been made available online by the Fashion Institute of Technology Gladys Marcus Library strictly for research and educational purposes. If you are the copyright holder for this work and have any objections to this work being made available online, please notify us immediately at [email protected].
- Identifier
- FIT Repository ID: ph_000285
Citation
Blackman, C. (2025). “The Return”. FIT Institutional Repository. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/668424
Blackman , Christon. “The Return”. 2025. FIT Digital Repository, https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/668424
Blackman , Christon. "“The Return”." FIT Digital Repository, 2025. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/668424