Dawoud Bey on Photographing People and Communities

In The Photography Workshop Series, Aperture Foundation works with the world’s top photographers to distill their creative approaches, teachings, and insights on photography—offering the workshop experience in a book. Our goal is to inspire photographers of all levels who wish to improve their work, as well as readers interested in deepening their understanding of the art of photography.

In this book, Dawoud Bey—well-known for his striking portraits that reflect both the individual and their larger community—offers his insight on creating meaningful and beautiful portraits that capture the subject and speak to something more universal. Through images and words, he shares his own creative process and discusses a wide range of issues, from lighting and location to establishing relationships with subjects, and practical strategies for starting a larger portraiture project. In The Photography Workshop Series, Aperture Foundation works with the world’s top photographers to distill their creative approaches, teachings, and insights on photography—offering the workshop experience in a book. Our goal is to inspire photographers of all levels who wish to improve their work, as well as readers interested in deepening their understanding of the art of photography.

In this book, Dawoud Bey—well-known for his striking portraits that reflect both the individual and their larger community—offers his insight on creating meaningful and beautiful portraits that capture the subject and speak to something more universal. Through images and words, he shares his own creative process and discusses a wide range of issues, from lighting and location to establishing relationships with subjects, and practical strategies for starting a larger portraiture project.

About the Author

Dawoud Bey began his career as a photographer in 1975 with a series of photographs called Harlem, USA, which was later exhibited in his first one-person exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem in 1979. He has since had numerous exhibitions worldwide, at such institutions as the Art Institute of Chicago; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; National Portrait Gallery, London; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, organized a mid-career survey of his work, Dawoud Bey: Portraits 1975-1995. A major publication of the same title was also published in conjunction with that exhibition. Class Pictures was published by Aperture in 2007.