International Tue 15-05-2012

Portraits for Self Determining Haiti
AfricanColours.com

Arlington, VA - May 2012 – Régine Romain, an A.I.R. Gallery 2011 -2012 Fellow, is pleased to announce Portraits for Self Determining Haiti, an exhibition of photographs at ARTOMATIC 2012.

Regine Romain Haiti Photographs

Régine Romain photographs and researches Haiti’s shifting yet distinct presence throughout the world in an ongoing visual diaspora project. Her work is grounded in individual and community portraiture. This exhibition bridges two compelling views: Romain, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, as the composer of portraits on Haitian life rarely seen, and the reality of Haiti as a self-determining nation – a principle historically rooted in the people’s DNA as resurgent hope.

Portraits for Self Determining Haiti is an exhibition of vibrant photographs of Haiti, three weeks after the 7.0 earthquake that killed more than half a million people. Elemental themes of faith, dignity, honor and respect are keenly displayed. The title is inspired by a series of essays published by The Nation in 1920 entitled "Self-Determining Haiti" written by James Weldon Johnson, a journalist, lyricist, and renowned civil rights leader of Haitian heritage.

In Ways of Seeing, John Berger states “...every image embodies a way of seeing, our perception or appreciation of an image depends also upon our own way of seeing.” The world psyche is awash in distorted narratives of Haitian people and society, and Romain’s acts of visual resistance stoke the collective imagination and keep new ways of seeing alive.

Romain’s photo essay on Haiti, including photos from Portraits for Self Determining Haiti, is featured in Meridians, Vol 11, December 2011, a journal published by Smith College. Romain’s work has been exhibited at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NY; Teatro Nacional de Cuba, Cuba; UN Photography Society, NY; and the Charles Sumner Museum, DC. Her awards include Brooklyn Arts Council and the Trude Lash Fellowship. She is the editor of Diaspora Diaries: An Educators Guide to MoCADA Artists, and is the founder of Urban PhotoPoets and the Brooklyn Photo Salon. Romain is a native Washingtonian and received a BS from Bowie State University and an MA in Photography & Urban Culture from Goldsmiths, University of London.

ARToMATIC is located at 1851 South Bell Street, Arlington, VA, two blocks from the Crystal City Metro stop on the Blue/Yellow line. Gallery hours: Wed &Thurs (Noon – 10 pm), Fri – Sat (Noon – 1 am), Sun, (Noon to 5 pm). For directions please visit http://artomatic.org/node/3717. For more information please visit: http://www.artomatic.org/user/1621 or contact Regine Romain, 301.237.6018 and brooklynphotosalon@gmail.com.