Curated by Amanda Coulson at TERN Gallery in The Bahamas, “The Other Side of the Pentaprism: Six Photographers In Conversation” shows Caribbean photographers grappling with – and pushing against cultural and historical stereotypes.

Caribbean culture is often envisioned with an outsider gaze. Tropes of the cultural exotic and a land ripe for vacationing illustrate the place without acknowledging its history of entanglement with colonialism and enslavement. The Other Side of the Pentaprism is a beautifully curated photographic counter narrative featuring work from Melissa Alcena, Tamika Galanis, Jodi Minnis, Lynn Parotti, Leanne Russell, and Tiffany Smith.

The exhibition takes inspiration from the pentaprism, the five-sided reflective prism found in a single-lens reflex camera that re-inverts an image, delivering a version of “reality” back to the viewer. The six women artists in the exhibition represent this filter between the Caribbean narratives presented in popular media and history books, and the experiences of those living inside it.

Through a range of approaches, the women in this exhibition question the line between constructed narrative and reality, and the shades of gray in between. I spoke with exhibition curator and TERN founding director Amanda Coulson to learn more about her ideas behind the show (on view through November 13, 2021), and the work within.

Jon Feinstein in conversation with Amanda Coulson