Frederick Douglass Hair. Nebraska State Historical Society. Lincoln, NE 2012. ©Wendel White

In the fall of 2008, while photographer and Rochester Institute of Technology visiting faculty member Wendel White was researching images associated with historical sites, he came across an object that would profoundly change his work to come. White discovered a preserved lock of Frederick Douglass’ hair in the Rush Rhees Special collections Library at the University of Rochester, driving him to begin Manifest, a comprehensive ongoing body of work documenting the relics of the United States’ brutal history towards Blacks in America.

Rachel Stern's portraits and still-life photographs in highly constructed studio environments swap natural and fabricated scenarios, evoking a panic and confusion in her viewers. Her references include a range of sources, from current pop-cultural icons and drag-queen culture to classical Greco-Roman iconography, fusing high and low culture with seamless ease. Models mimic classical poses; arms, breasts, and other body parts protrude into the frame, and ritualistic symbols sit quietly upon plinths and other surfaces, prodding viewers to question their historical anchor, relationship and relevance. Her pop-up solo exhibition "A Certain Age," presented by Humble Arts Foundation opens this Friday, June 5th at 6pm at The Common in Brooklyn, NY as part Bushwick Open Studios. In advance of her show, we spent some quality internet time with Rachel to get a deeper dive into her work, and the generous individuals who have helped to shape her artistic practice.

Wendel White's Still Life Artifacts From Slavery, Segregation and Emancipation

Rachel Stern Talks Queer Art, Men-as-Muses, and Mary Ellen Mark