Black Excellence: Deborah Willis
https://debwillisphoto.com/home.html
Deborah Willis and Hank Willis Thomas give a mother/son talk at the TED WOMEN 2017 talk in New Orleans
As an artist, author and curator Deb Willis’s art and pioneering research has focused on cultural histories envisioning the black body, women and gender. She is a celebrated photographer, acclaimed historian of photography, MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellow, and University Professor and Chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.
https://www.studiomuseum.org/artists/deborah-willis
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Willis was first introduced to photography by her father. His photographs of her family and her mother’s salon prompted her to start an investigation into Black beauty and familial bonds.
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/20/nx-s1-5397972/reflections-in-black-deborah-willis
For decades, Deborah Willis has dedicated her career to unearthing, cataloging and showcasing Black photographers and photographs of Black people. The MacArthur “Genius Award” winner is the author of a spectacular collection of books including the seminal Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present.