Updated on February 18, 2021 at 10:28 am
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In honor of Black History Month, Galleria Dallas is hosting an incredibly impactful photo exhibit until the end of the month.
Titled Black Is Beautiful, the exhibit pays homage to a movement started in the 1960s as an act of defiance and deep self-love while promoting Black culture.
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After the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, a Dallas-based artist is helping to continue that movement through her photographs. To say that you are enough to celebrate, I think it’s a very strong message, Black is Beautiful photographer, Yesi Fortuna, told NBC 5.
Dallas photographer champions beauty of Black community in new exhibit
Photo by Yesi Fortuna
Photo by Yesi Fortuna
Photo by Yesi Fortuna When Dallas photographer
Yesi Fortuna saw civil unrest unfolding around the country after George Floyd’s death last summer, she felt compelled to help. So she picked up her camera. On June 4, 2020, Fortuna opened the doors to her Fort Lion Studio and invited Dallas’ Black community for free portraits that would serve as a celebration of Black resilience. So many people were interested, she reopened for a second day. The results are now on display in Black is Beautiful DFW, a new exhibit that has opened for Black History Month at Galleria Dallas.
Over the course of two days last summer, Fortuna opened up Fort Lion Studio and invited Black families and individuals to take free photos and express their emotions through photography.
“I wanted to be there personally with individuals who felt like they needed to change in their day-to-day,” Fortuna says, “because a lot of people weren t even stepping outside, not only because of COVID, but because they were truly, truly frightened with what was happening in the world.”
While taking these photos, Fortuna was happy to offer a safe space for people to discuss their feelings. This also allowed her to hear their reactions to the police brutality that had taken place over the year.
Community Conversations: Black is Beautiful Exhibit A new exhibit of photographs called Black is Beautiful DFW is now on display in several areas in Dallas
Published December 15, 2020 •
Updated on December 15, 2020 at 4:35 pm
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Black is Beautiful DFW, is a series of images that are now on display in Dallas. Yesi Fortuna, of Fort Lion Studio, is the photographer and creator of this project.
“We opened the doors to the public, and said specifically to our black community, please come in, let us pour love onto you. We want to capture your faces, your smiling beaming faces, or your sad faces, whatever it is that you are feeling right now,” said Fortuna.