This is a mood board compiled of Latoya Ruby Frazier’s works.

Latoya Ruby Frazier is an American artist and now professor of photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Born in Braddock (Pennsylvania), she started her photography journey at sixteen by documenting her hometown. This stemmed into the production of her first photobook. In this book ‘The notion of family’ she explores racism and economic decline in America’s small towns, as shown in her hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania. She portrays the hardships of Frazier’s family, who grew up there, through her images. She has included a selection of photographs; landscapes, portraits, and objects. She particularly focuses on capturing black and white photographs of herself and her family.

Latoya Ruby Frazier draws upon very personal and intimate aspects of her life to create meaningful photographs. She combines this with facing issues of racism and economic injustices. These result in the creation of her raw images of friends and family. Frazier says “the collaboration between my family and myself blurs the line between self-portraiture and social documentary”. This shows how she puts herself in front of the camera, in a vulnerable light, allowing viewers to see very personal details about herself and her life. This adds to her impactful images and allows her to address serious world issues through her work. Because her own family was part of her project ‘The Notion Of Family’, and it was a reflection of herself, it allowed her to give her photographs a deeper meaning and understanding. The process of image making is also a lot more effortless as the subjects become comfortable in front of the lens when having a close, trusted family member creating the images.