PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Thoughtfully illustrated, this volume highlights a selection of photographs of African American family life between the 1970s and the early 2000s—pictures that were lost by their original owners and then found by the artist Zun Lee on a street in Detroit in 2012, marking the beginning of the Fade Resistance collection of more than 4,000 Polaroids. Lee describes the collection as an important record of Black visual self-representation and a means to “reflect the way Black people saw themselves on their terms—without the intention of being seen, or judged, by others.” To Lee, these powerful photographs are an expression of “Black life mattering.”

These vivid images chronicle milestones such as weddings, birthdays and graduations, as well as quiet daily moments, offering contemporary views long ignored or erased by mainstream culture. Together, these works highlight the role snapshots have played in Black life, as tools to challenge stereotypical portrayals and as a means to memorialize family, culture and heritage.

The design starts on the cover, as the images stored in a random way as in a shoebox–becoming more organized as they are presented and arranged for the viewer as the book begins, exposes, appreciates, then deconstructs to jumble again by the end to return to the box. The publication, proportionally sized like a polaroid, houses essays, poetry, and moments of contemplation. It is typeset in the variable font Polymode Sans designed Ben Kiel and Jesse Ragan of XYZ Type in collaboration with Polymode and Signifier by Kris Sowersby.

BOOK INFORMATION

Trim Size: 6.75 x 9.25

Number of Pages: 192 pages

Binding Method:

Paper:

Typefaces: Signifier and Polymode Sans

CREDIT INFORMATION

Creative Director: Brian Johnson and Silas Munro

Art Director:

Book Designer: Randa Hadi, Brian Johnson, and Silas Munro

Jacket/Cover Designer: Randa Hadi, Brian Johnson, and Silas Munro

Illustrator:

Photographer: Ian Byers-Gamber

Picture Editor: Zun Lee and Sophie Hackett with Randa Hadi and Brian Johnson

Production Director: Jim Shedden - AGO

Production Coordinator: Kathryn Yuen - AGO

Production Artist:

Other Credits: Audrey Davies - Polymode Studio Manager

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