forwhenifeellikesharing:

Carrie Mae Weems Mirror, Mirror, 1986

This image is from a series called “Ain’t Jokin.” I love it because the messages are no joke, but there are absurd qualities to the photos that are undeniably somewhat humorous, even if you are just laughing uncomfortably.

Weems has what a lot of people might write off as standard, confrontational racial imagery. But I don’t think her work is ever as simple as an artist saying: “This is my message, now deal with it.” I think her work engages people in a way that connects so directly to subconscious ideas and impressions of race we cannot prepare ourselves for how unpleasant our own familiarity with her message is.