P.H. Polk
P.H. Polk (bo r n Pr en t ice Her man Polk 1898) in Be ss eme r, Alabama, w as an Ame r ican phot ogr apher t hat s hined a
s pot light on t he narr at i ves of Afr ican
Ame r icans in Tuskegee , Alabama during
t he ear ly t o mid 20th cen tury. Wit h t he in t en t ion s of becoming a pain t er " like Van Gogh or Remb r andt", Polk en r olled at Tuskegee Uni vers i ty (for me r ly kno w n as
t he Tuskegee Inst i tut e) in 1916. While t her e he me t C.M. Ba tt ey, t he head of Tuskegee ' s phot ogr aphy depart men t, w ho
s poke t o stu den ts about t he future of
phot ogr aphy as a car ee r field . Polk t hen
sw i t ched focus t o phot ogr aphy as his pr ima ry medi um.
In 1924, Polk r elocat ed t o Chicago w her e
he w ould cont in ue his stu die s w i t h Fr ed A.
Jen s en , a w hit e phot ogr apher. Follow ing
t he bi rt h of his s on in 1926, P.H. Polk
r etur ned t o Tuskegee in 1927 t o open an
in - home phot ogr aphy stu dio . His men t or
C.M. Ba tt ey pass ed aw ay lat er t hat y ear, and Polk joined t he faculty at Tuskegee and lat er w en t on t o become t he head of t he phot ogr aphy depart men t. He s erv ed as
t he official phot ogr apher of Tuskegee
Uni vers i ty for over 40 y ears.
Portr ait of George Washington Carver
D uring Polk ' s t ime at Tuskegee , he phot ogr aphed D r. Mart in Lut her King,
Muhammad Ali , Geo r ge Was hingt on
Carv er, Langst on Hughes, four of t he
s chool' s pr es iden ts, and w as r es pons ible
for t he 1941 phot ogr aph of Eleano r
Roo s evelt and civilian pilo t Char les
Alfr ed Ande rs on t hat lat er in s pi r ed t he deplo y men t of t he Tuskegee Ai r men
during Wor ld War II.
Polk ' s w or k s how ed how t he depict ion of
Afr ican Ame r icans in t he 20th cen tury
could influence t heir r eal lives and opportu ni t ie s in s ociety. His phot ogr aphy
s erv ed as impo rt ant documen t at ion during
t he Civil Rights Movemen t as w ell as tru e
s ocial commen t ary on t he t ime s. His
subjects r anged fr om Afr ican Ame r ican
leade rs, educat ors, and poli t icians t o
w or king class and for me r ly en s laved
Alabaman
s.
Alt hough he' s w ell kno w n for her
phot ogr aphy ar ound Tuskegee ' s campus, his image s of elde r ly Afr ican
Ame r icans w or king in rural Tuskegee
have r eceived not able pr ais e. Thes e
phot os captur ed t hei r s en s e of
humani ty and allow ed t hem agency in
t he image s t aken of t hem -- t her e i s
str ong ey e cont act be tw een t he subject and came r a t hat comm unicat es a non -
ver bal " I s ee y ou".
“To be portrayed in her own matter-offactness: confident, hard working, adventuresome, assertive and stern. The pose, at an angle, and her expression, authoritative and firm, are not the result of my usual tactics to encourage a response. She wears her own clothes. She is not cloaked in victimization. She is not pitiful; therefore, she is not portrayed in pitiful surroundings. She is not helpless, and she is not cute. Instead she projects notions of independence, and is powerful in appearance, and is, by title, the boss.”
- P.H. Polk on " The Bo ss" (Pictur ed)
P.H. Polk
“And (Polk) never lost that, what I call that desire to achieve an image that had all of the qualities of someone like Rembrandt’s paintings. When he talked about creating a photograph from the dark side, he very much was referencing the fact that when someone like Rembrandt and other baroque painters would begin to paint, they wouldn’t think as most painters did about form and how to develop that form by the relationships of lights to darks. They would always think about how to bring that form out of darkness.”
- Amalia K. Amaki , Art i st
Polk ' s w or k has been di s play ed at t he Museum of Natural Hist ory in Ne w Yo r k, t he Co r cor an Gallery in Was hingt on DC, The Col umb us Museum in Col umb us, Geo r gia and t he Stu dio Museum of Har lem .
His w or k i s als o in t he collect ion s of Smit hs onian ' s Nat ional Museum of Afr ican Ame r ican Hist ory and Culture as w ell as t hei r Ame r ican Art Museum.
Polk' s painterly approach to
photography produced a
breathtaking port folio featuring
thes e 11 class ic images, which is
currently on view and available
for purchase at Mason Fine Art in Atlanta, Georgia.
“Mr Polk was a kind and genteel man. He had a keen vision, both in front of and behind the camera. His quick wit and humor made it a pleasure to work with him and discuss his approach to photography. These images attest to his ability to 'see' his subjects and capture their essence.”
- Michael E. Goodman, Founder of t he Nexus Pr ess
Keep In Touch
Please feel free to contact Mason Fine Art for more information on P.H. Polk, the port folio, and his legacy.
mark@masonfineartandevents .com
piera@masonfineart andevents .com (404) 879-1500
