Deborah Willis (b. 1948) is a contemporary African American photographer, curator, historian of photography, author, and academic. The Deborah Willis professional files audio collection consists of one audio recording of an interview she did on Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane about her book, Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present.
Deborah Willis (born February 5, 1948) is a contemporary African American photographer, curator, historian of photography, author, and academic. The collection includes one interview with Willis conducted by Marty Moss-Coane on Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane, an hour-long talk show produced in Philadelphia also known as Radio Times.
Willis was the curator of photographs at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture between 1980 and 1992. Afterwards, she became exhibitions curator at the Center for African American History and Culture of the Smithsonian Institution for eight years. Since 2006, she has been professor and chair of the Department of Photography and Imaging at Tisch School of the Arts of New York University.
Willis holds a PhD in cultural studies from George Mason University (2001); an MA in art history from City College of New York (1986); an MFA in photography from Pratt Institute (1979); and BFA in photography from Philadelphia College of Art (1975). She is the author of several books including Imagining Families; Black Photographers: 1840 to the Present; Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present; and The Black Female Body: A Photographic History. Her publications on the history of Black photography have become the foundation for scholarly work in the field. In recognition of a quarter-century of documenting the Black experience in photography, she was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 2000.
The Deborah Willis professional files audio collection consists of one audio recording of a Radio Times interview she did in 2000. The audio recording contains two parts. In the interview, Willis discusses her book Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present.
Donated by Deborah Willis, in multiple donations between 1992 and 2005.
Item scope and content notes and AMI identifiers updated for clarity by Ornella U. Baganizi. (2024-04-12)
Collection inventoried by Joyce Joseph. Collection processed and described by Ornella U. Baganizi, archivist; and Shola Lynch, curator. Finding aid published in 2024.
See the Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division for the Deborah Willis professional files 1944-2011 [bulk 1980s-1990s], Sc MG 452.
See the Photographs and Prints Division for the Deborah Willis portrait collection [graphic], Sc Photo Willis, Deborah.
Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present, Sc+ G 00-74.