Micaiah Carter's First Solo Show Celebrates Black Beauty
Art

Micaiah Carter's First Solo Show Celebrates Black Beauty

by Kenna McCafferty

Photographer Micaiah Carter's first solo show is a labor of love. American Black Beauty, opening at SN37 Gallery on February 11 during New York Fashion Week, blends Carter's fashion, editorial and personal work into one space — all linked through one common thread: the desire for Black representation in imagery.

Working with the celebrities, artists, designers and publications alike — from Pyer Moss and Zendaya to GQ and our very own PAPER — the California-born, New York-based photographer ensures Black beauty is at the forefront of each image he carefully crafts. In 2020, Carter even launched his own initiative, See in Black, creating a coalition of Black photographers who invest in, uplift and build a community around Black visibility.

Dipping into the past, the exhibition will also honor and celebrate Carter’s own family history and at the heart of the show is Carter's late father, a Vietnam veteran who died of prostate cancer in 2021. Responding to loss through creativity, Carter incorporates home videos and archival imagery to pay tribute to his father as a constant supporter of his work as a reminder that nothing — even the ephemeral beauty of a photograph — takes place in a vacuum.

The exhibition, closing March 27, sets a tone for Carter’s ever-growing body of work as one of intention, intricacy and importance.

Photos courtesy of ALMA Communications