On October 3, 2023, the Institute for the Humanities will welcome photographer Devin Allen to campus as part of LSA's fall 2023 Arts & Resistance theme semester. "Snapshots & Straight Talk: Devin Allen in Conversation with Imani Mixon" will feature photographer Devin Allen in conversation with Detroit writer Imani Mixon at UMMA's Helmut Stern Auditorium at 6pm. The two will discuss Allen's life and work, the tension between truth and beauty, capturing community, and maintaining authenticity.
Devin Allen is a self-taught photographer who gained national attention when his photograph of the Baltimore Uprising was published on the cover of Time magazine in 2015. His book, No Justice, No Peace: From the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter, came out last year and he's the founder of a youth photography educational program called Through Their Eyes.
Imani Mixon was born and raised at the magnetic center of the world’s cultural compass — Detroit, Michigan. She is a long-form storyteller who is inspired by everyday griots who bear witness to their surroundings and report it back out. Equal parts urgent and essential, her multimedia work centers the experiences of Black women and independent artists.
In addition to the "Snapshots & Straight Talk" event, the Public Humanities Interns at the Institute for the Humanities are hosting an Instagram photo contest in the weeks leading up to Allen's visit and a dinner with the artist event for undergraduate students.
