About this episode

Tawny Chatmon discusses her approach to portrait photography that reconstructs history and challenges representation.

When photographer Tawny Chatmon creates a portrait, she is doing more than arranging light and subject—she is reconstructing history. Drawing from classical European painting traditions while centering contemporary Black subjects, her work reclaims visual space that has long excluded them. Through layered textures, gold leaf, and painterly surfaces, Tawny creates images that feel both timeless and urgently present. Her portraits challenge the conventions of representation, placing children and families within compositions that evoke Renaissance and Baroque aesthetics while subverting their historical omissions. Rather than treating her subjects as symbols, she honors their individuality, dignity, and complexity. The result is work that feels intimate yet monumental—a visual meditation on legacy, visibility, and the power of self-definition. Resources Tawny Chatmon https://www.tawnychatmon.com Altadena Photographers https://www.altadenaphotographers.org/ Workshops & Upcoming Education with Ibarionex Perello Timeline: Los Angeles A guided photographic exploration of Los Angeles that encourages participants to engage deeply with place, history, and personal narrative…

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