Donavon Smallwood - Languor
Languor is a project by NYC-based photographer Donavon Smallwood which centres genuine portraits of young Black individuals within the expansive landscape of NYC’s Central Park. His work is an examination of nature, home, the negation of civilization, and the spaces in-between. The initial inspiration for Smallwood’s series stemmed from his relationship with the park– a space of refuge in-between his home and the regular hustle of life in Manhattan. For decades, Central Park has been just a short walking distance from Smallwood’s home; as such, it became a place where he spent most of his time outside of his house. He tells me, “so many important moments in my life have taken place there” so much so that his desire to translate his experiences and emotions within this park soon evolved into a full photographic project. When describing Languor Smallwood importantly reflects on the notorious history of the park:
“The park was constructed by using eminent domain to strip landowning African-Americans of their property/homes in mind, many of which formed this community to escape the unhealthy conditions and racism found in the other inhabited parts of Manhattan.”
With the history of Central Park as a backdrop for his series, Smallwood’s work exists as a visual conversation between historical contexts and contemporary lived experiences–a double consciousness that veils both nature and being. Yet, his series is strives to escape the racial trauma often associated with Black visual art, and instead creates a space for Black tranquility among the chaos of nature, history, and day-to-day life in NYC.
- Alexa Fahlman
