"Beautiful, Still." is the first monograph by photographer Colby Deal, documenting the people, objects, and settings of everyday life in the Third Ward neighborhood in Houston, Texas, where the artist grew up.
In this ongoing project, currently consisting of over a thousand negatives, Deal sets out to provide a visual record of overlooked communities and cultural features gradually being erased by gentrification, as well as a representation of communities of color whose members are often portrayed negatively.
Connotations Through these instinctive black-and-white photographs, Deal's realistic approach to his subjects becomes apparent; sometimes candid and blurry, other times balanced and sharply focused, the series is built to convey the dynamism and vitality of family, community, and individual life in Third Ward.
The scratches and dust left on the negatives reflect the marks of life lived and, at the same time, suggest the fragility of these documents and the corresponding precariousness of the fabrics of social life they often represent. Deal's almost conversational tone, the antithesis of media portrayals of the neighborhood, invites its viewers with a sense of playfulness and intuitive fun.
From these alternately staged and documentary images, a new narrative emerges about a reductively and oppressively narrativized place, celebrating the agency and freedom that the photographic medium can offer.
Includes a lengthy essay by Houston-based fiction writer, art critic, and essayist Garry Reece.
Embossed faux leather hardcover.
24x28cm,
160 pages
