Omotade Fatiregun - America's Mirror

My Final project, "America's Mirror", is built on the premise that the Mass Media is a mirror into the lives of everyday Americans. It is said that America's biggest export is media/entertainment,with this in mind i embarked on a project that would be critical of the accuracy of this "mirror". It has long been an issue of concern that the creators and gate keepers of our various entertainment industries do represent a specific demographic as posed to reflecting the vastness of the American population. In other words, the people who own the companies and have the biggest influences over what we see are White Males. The purpose of my project is to start a dialogue amongst todays creators on how to change that. My project would consist of two components.

The first component is history. In order to create have proper dialogue, one must have a grasp of context. I decided to focus in on a specific demographic, according to history the first non-white demo to be depicted in american media, the african american community.  I decided to create a blog on the popular site Tumblr. On this blog i attempt to give the history of the depictions and quality of representation African Americans have had in american media. I intend for it to serve as sort of a timeline to lead to where today's creators have to build from.

The second component is a documentary that would target creators directly, especially those working in a visual medium. I based the documentary on two young African American photographers, on male and one female, currently working on a joint endeavor called, "The Melanin Project". The premise of the project is to photograph black, male and female subjects in the nude in order to celebrate the beauty of melanin. I wanted to document the journey they go on as they put this project together. While acting as a fly on the wall as a good documentarian should, I attempt to find out how America's Mirror has affected them as consumers as well as creators of media. Armed with a knowledge of this countries history of portraying melanated peoples, how do they plan on effecting change if intact the believe change is necessary.    

Below is a short teaser of the documentary. Due to schedules of both of the photographers and the difficulty involved in finding subjects that will pose nude, i have not gotten as far as i would have liked. I plan to continue documenting them on their journey as they work on what could be a defining project in both of their careers. 

America's Mirror Blog: http://americasmirror.tumblr.com/

Bibliography

1. Bogle, Donald. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films. New York: Continuum, 2001. Print
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7. "From Blackface to Blaxploitation: Representations of African Americans in Film." Duke University Libraries, n.d. Web.
8. Smith, Marquita R. "Afro Thunder! Sexual Politics and Gender Inequity in the Liberation Struggles of the Black Militant Woman." Ann Arbor, MI: MPublishing, University of Michigan Library, n.d. Web.