Take a Moment...
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"Mama Madelyn" 2019. Photograph by MAZA.
Mama Madelyn
Text by the artist MAZA, contributor for Where They Stood: A Historical Account of the Evolution of Black-Anglo Montreal
Photography has opened a portal for myself, specifically the black and white medium to be able to create art while still allowing me to connect to my past in a meaningful way. I feel that black and white imagery creates a mood that can make a simple picture powerful. I have only been taking photos for the last year and this photo was my first black and white roll, on the day I first met my grandmother, “Mama Madelyn”, in San Francisco in 2019. We had been searching for each other for about 30 years and one magical day I found her number and immediately booked a flight to California to reconnect my past to the present. This photo captures the moment that I was able to gain access to my lineage that I thought was lost in the wheels of time.
I have recently worked on a book that's due to be released in the forthcoming months called Where They Stood. I have had the privilege to reconnect the history in Montreal of Black Anglophones to history that has no borders. The book Where They shows how dedicated we are as a people to create a community that is powerful and full subsistence that adds the culture of wherever we are settled in this world. Just like my photo Mama Madelyn, the book Where They Stood, allows us to open the portal to a past that was once lost. During this process of understanding it has humbled me and given me meaning to know what I am doing will continue to keep our lineages present within a system that has tried to eradicate my people's identity.
Take a Moment for Representation: An Anti-Racism Series
We are proud to present Concordia University Library's inaugural digital exhibition. Take a Moment presents a series of un-interrupted moments for solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, for reflection on systemic racism, and for making space for Black representation. At this exact moment in time, let us pause for a minute, or two, or more...
Take a Moment Coordinators: Rachel Harris and Sarah Lake
Questions? Please contact: lib-exhibitions@concordia.ca
