Lot 8

Christina Leslie started experimenting with historical photographic techniques in 2016. Interested in commenting on and revisiting the origins of analogue photography while incorporating a modern approach, Leslie sought to create a series that emphasized the history of early photography, specifically the pinhole camera. Throughout her investigation, Leslie frequently scrutinized historical paintings and photographs. By observing a multitude of European subjects or scenes that depicted people from a White colonial perspective, it became evident that there was a conspicuous absence of representation from the Black diaspora. Such is the case with most art prior to the invention of photography. For this series, Leslie took pinhole portraits of Black community members between 2018 and 2019 to create a history not founded on discriminatory anthropological perspectives and to address the lack of representation in early art history and photography.