her first collection of photographs, text, and spoken word, called Family Pictures and Stories. The images told the story of her family, and she has said that in this project she was trying to explore the movement of black families out of the South and into the North, using her family as a model for the larger theme. Her next series, called Ain’t Jokin’, was completed in 1988. It focused on racial jokes and internalized racism. Weems has said that throughout the 1980s she was turning away from the documentary photography genre, instead “creating representations that appeared to be documents but were in fact staged” and also “incorporating text, using multiples images, diptychs and triptychs, and constructing narratives.” Gender issueswere the next focal point for Carrie. The Kitchen Table series was completed in 1990. About Kitchen Table and Family Pictures and Stories, Weems has said, “I use my own constructed image as a vehicle for questioning ideas about the role of tradition, the nature of family, monogamy, polygamy, relationships between men and women, between women and their children, and between women and other women— underscoring the critical problems and the possible resolves.” She has expressed disbelief and concern about the exclusion of images of the black community, particularly black women, from the popular media, and aims to represent these excluded subjects and speak to their experience through her work. Weems has also reflected on the themes and inspirations of her work as a whole, saying, “...from the very beginning, I’ve been interested in the idea of power and the consequences of power; relationships are made and articulated through power. Another thing that’s interesting about the early work is that even though I’ve been engaged in the idea of autobiography, other ideas have been more important: the role of narrative, the social levels of humor, the deconstruction of documentary, the construction of history, the use of text, storytelling, performance, and the role of memory have all been more central to my thinking than autobiography.” Other series created by Weems include: the Sea Island Series (1991-92), the Africa Series (1993), From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried (1995-96), Who What When Where (1998), Ritual & Revolution (1998), the Louisiana Project (2003), Roaming (2006), and the Museum Series, which she began in 2007. Her most recent project, Grace Notes: Reflections for Now, is a multimedia performance that explores “the role of grace in the pursuit of democracy.” Awards Carrie Mae Weems has won numerous awards. In 2005, she was awarded the Distinguished Photographer’s Award in recognition of her significant contributions to the world of photography. Her talents have also been recognized by numerous colleges, including Harvard University and Wellesley College, with fellowships, artist-inresidence and visiting professor positions. She taught photography at
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