Scurlock exhibit displays historic, Black Washington
Courtney Edwards/Howard University News Service
Issue date: 3/1/09 Section: Arts and Entertainment
The picture of Black children playing, the image of Black men and women at work, and the smile on Duke Ellington's face as he sits at a piano are just a few of the photos that capture the Black movement that occurred in many northern cities during the 1920s known as the "Harlem Renaissance."
These are the kinds of images that Addison Scurlock and his son's, Robert and George, sought to capture from their studio in Washington, D.C.
The Scurlock Studio and its photographic works is the subject of a new exhibit that has recently opened at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture has opened the first of many exhibits to come to the American History Museum before its new home is permanently installed along the National Mall in 2015. As the introduction to the exhibit states, the gallery "focuses on Washington, D.C., through the lens of the Scurlock Studio."
"It is so beautiful to be a part of this," said Summer Brown, one of the exhibit's architects. "Hopefully everyone who visits it will get the same look, feel and appreciation for the aesthetics."
With its dimly lit area and soft music featured in the installment's video component, the exhibit provides a contrast from the museum's other displays, which tends to incorporate more patriotic themes and less somber undertones such as the "Americans At War" or the Abraham Lincoln exhibit.
Visitors praised the Scurlocks' use of soft focus and described how the soft facial lines in some of the portraits made them just right. Gloria Kirk, a District resident and long-time photographer, was one of the visitors who praised the Scurlocks for the artistic quality of their work.
"It's a magnificent exhibit," Kirk said. "I think it has been a long time coming."
The exhibit takes you through a timeline of events from the year 1900, when Addison Scurlock first moved to the District from North Carolina with his family at age 17. In 1911 he opened his studio at 900 U St. N.W. The Scurlock Studio saw Black Washington at its very best and, also, during some of its most tense periods.
These are the kinds of images that Addison Scurlock and his son's, Robert and George, sought to capture from their studio in Washington, D.C.
The Scurlock Studio and its photographic works is the subject of a new exhibit that has recently opened at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture has opened the first of many exhibits to come to the American History Museum before its new home is permanently installed along the National Mall in 2015. As the introduction to the exhibit states, the gallery "focuses on Washington, D.C., through the lens of the Scurlock Studio."
"It is so beautiful to be a part of this," said Summer Brown, one of the exhibit's architects. "Hopefully everyone who visits it will get the same look, feel and appreciation for the aesthetics."
With its dimly lit area and soft music featured in the installment's video component, the exhibit provides a contrast from the museum's other displays, which tends to incorporate more patriotic themes and less somber undertones such as the "Americans At War" or the Abraham Lincoln exhibit.
Visitors praised the Scurlocks' use of soft focus and described how the soft facial lines in some of the portraits made them just right. Gloria Kirk, a District resident and long-time photographer, was one of the visitors who praised the Scurlocks for the artistic quality of their work.
"It's a magnificent exhibit," Kirk said. "I think it has been a long time coming."
The exhibit takes you through a timeline of events from the year 1900, when Addison Scurlock first moved to the District from North Carolina with his family at age 17. In 1911 he opened his studio at 900 U St. N.W. The Scurlock Studio saw Black Washington at its very best and, also, during some of its most tense periods.
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