SEEING BLACK is a multimedia, research-based project chronicling and celebrating the history, influence, performance aesthetic, and futurity of Black photography in New Orleans. Organized around a publication, SEEING BLACK: Black Photography in New Orleans 1840 & Beyond, which is set to be released later this summer by the University of New Orleans Press, SEEING BLACK’s series of exhibitions span multiple sites, a digital platform, and public programming.  Initially conceptualized by Kalamu ya Salaam in 2020 as a fine art print book featuring the photography of historical and contemporary Black photographers, SEEING BLACK has expanded in its formation and scale, engaging multiple partners and the work of over 100 historical and contemporary Black photographers.

SEEING BLACK is organized by writer and activist Kalamu ya Salaam, feminist activist, researcher, sociologist, and artist Shana M. griffin, photographer and activist Eric Waters, and photographer and historian Girard Mouton,III, with design support from Lidya Araya and the curatorial assistance of Renee Royale, alongside input from photographers, scholars, designers, artists, writers, and partnering organizations.