Mayor Dinkins Featured in Photo Exhibit on Iconic African Americans

Lewis museum photo exhibit 'Reflections' looks into lives of prominent black Americans
Baltimore Sun
By Mary Carole McCauley

Given the barrage of criticism he faced, it seems natural that David Dinkins, the first black mayor of New York, would literally erect a barrier between himself and the visitor sitting on the opposite side of his desk.

The artist Terrence A. Reese shot a black-and-white photograph of Dinkins’ office that’s included in a fascinating exhibit that’s running for five more months at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture.

“Reflections: Intimate Portraits of Iconic African Americans” consists of 45 documentary-style images of the places where African-American groundbreakers lived and worked. As seen through Reese’s lens, the result is a series of incisive psychological portraits of such figures as the civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson, legendary blues musician B.B. King, the media entrepreneur Cathy Hughes — and Dinkins.

“People know the public persona of famous individuals,” said Charles Bethea, the Lewis’ chief curator. “What TAR [Reese] was trying to do was to engage with them in a unique way, by photographing their environments. The things we collect, what we put on our walls and tables, make us who we are.”

For example, visitors to Dinkins’ office were separated from the former mayor by an array of objects lined up at the perimeter of his desk like an army formation. A mirror, notepad, pencil case, tape dispenser, stapler, paper clip tray, desk calendar, clock and several framed photographs were arranged side by side and just a few inches apart. Visitors dared not get too comfortable; there was no place to put down a pad of paper or coffee mug.

If the desk projects an aura of defensiveness, perhaps that’s because Dinkins was New York’s mayor during the Crown Heights riot of 1991, which pitted the black population of Brooklyn against Orthodox Jews. Dinkins was pilloried for what was perceived as the city’s ineffective police response. He lost his re-election bid two years later, and the defeat was widely attributed to the uprising.

“Reflections: Intimate Portraits of Iconic African Americans” runs through Aug. 12 at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, 830 E. Pratt St. $6-$8. 443-263-1800 or lewismuseum.org.

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