Belle Jet @ University of La Verne
 
The Belle Jet Series continues the investigation of identity by integrating images of myself with my grandmother, great grandmother, and other relatives dating back to the early 1900’s and historical stereographic images of Native and Black American women from the Turn of the Century. The stereograph, being a popular medium for disseminating images of Americans during the Turn of the Century, was also instrumental in helping create visual representations of American life and inform American identity- investigating both shifts in time, ideaology, and representation- capturing the nuances of identity development, conceptualization, and intersectionality with social political frameworks across generations.
 
As the series evolves, references begin to shift between both photographic images from the turn of the century to popular culture printed images, such as JET Magazine’s “Beauties of the Week”- investing both shifts in time, idea ology, and representation- capturing the nuances of identity development, conceptualization, and intersectionality with social political frameworks across generations. The incorporation of JET Magazine’s “Beauties of the Week” also speak specifically to the formation of African American representation of the ideal African American woman, who’s image and text serve almost as an instructional guide within printed media from 1950’s thru 1990’s. The merging of multigenerational representations through photography and printed media expose the nuances of inherited ideals and beliefs about and how we construct self.