James M. Mannas
James M. Mannas | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 15, 1941 (age 82) Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Photographer, film director, cinematographer, writer |
James M. Mannas Jr. (born September 15, 1941[1]) is an American photographer, film director, cinematographer and writer. He is recognized as one of the founding fifteen members of the Kamoinge Workshop (1963),[2] which evolved from the union of two separate groups of African American photographers who were based in New York City. His work depicts African American New York City street life, avant-garde jazz musicians; dancers; portraits; landscapes; and post-colonial Guyana.[3]
Early life and education[edit]
Mannas was born in Newark, New Jersey. He came from a family of thirteen children,[3] who settled in Harlem. Mannas received a certificate from New York University for studies in film and television.[1]
Career[edit]
Photography: Kamoinge Workshop[edit]
In the beginning of the 1960s, Mannas and other black photographers, including Louis Draper, Albert Fennar, Ray Francis, Herman Howard, Earl James, Calvin Mercer, Herbert Randall, Larry Stewart, Shawn Walker and Calvin Wilson, founded the Kamoinge Workshop, through combining two pre-existing groups of black photographers. Draper wrote, “We saw ourselves as a group who were trying to nurture each other.”[4]
They were mentored by the established African American photographer, Roy DeCarava, who became the collective's first director in 1963.[5] It was at DeCarva's Sixth Avenue and West 38th Street loft that most of the group's meetings were held in the latter part of 1963.[2] Mannas presided over the Kamoinge Workshop as president from 1976 to 1977. He was acting director in 1979.[2]
Mannas appears in “The Black Photographers Annual” Volume I[6] and Volume 2.[7]
Film[edit]
Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, Mannas captured public reaction in the Brooklyn neighborhood, Bedford Stuyvesant. The result was the film, King Is Dead, (1968).[3] In 1969, he shot Kick, which documents "a woman's efforts to help her husband overcome addiction."[3]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Willis-Thomas, Deborah (1989). An Illustrated Bio-Bibliography of Black Photographers 1940-1988. New York: Garland Publishing. p. 98. ISBN 082408389X.
- ^ a b c Anthony Barboza & Herb Robinson, eds; Vincent Alabiso, co-editor. “Timeless: Photographs by Kamoinge.” Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 2015. ISBN 978-0-7643-4974-4 p. 76 Retrieved January 10, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Eckhardt, Sarah (2020). Working Together: Louis Draper and the Kamoinge Workshop. Durham, North Carolina: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. p. 280. ISBN 978-1-934351-17-8.
- ^ Berger, Maurice (January 7, 2016). "Kamoinge's Half-Century of African American Photography". New York Times: Lens Blog. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
- ^ Duganne, Erina. “Transcending the Fixity of Race: The Kamoinge Workshop and the Question of a ‘Black Aesthetic’ in Photography.” New Thoughts on the Black Arts Movement. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. P.188. ISBN 978-0-8135-3695-8. p. 188. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ Crawford, Joe, Editor and Publisher (January 15, 2020). "The Black Photographers Annual, Volume 1". The Black Photographers Annual. 1: James Mannas photo on 48.
{{cite journal}}:|first=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Crawford, Joe (January 15, 2020). "The Black Photographers Annual, Volume 2". The Black Photographers Annual. 2: 82–87.
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