Black Photojournalism

Kristin Kristin

This season through January 19th, 2026 the Carnegie Museum of Art celebrates Black Photojournalism with a special exhibit. “Black Photojournalism presents work by nearly 60 photographers chronicling historic events and daily life in the United States from the conclusion of World War II in 1945 to the presidential campaigns of 1984, including the civil rights movements through the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.”  

The Library has a robust collection of photography books complimenting this exhibit. Visit the museum and then come over to our Main branch next door to check out these amazing titles!

IMAGE: Unknown American, Charles “Teenie” Harris, holding camera and standing on sidewalk, ca. 1938, Carnegie Museum of Art, Heinz Family Fund, © Carnegie Museum of Art, Charles “Teenie” Harris Archive

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If you need help using our Digital Media tools to access these selections, visit our Online Resources Support page.      

If you’re looking for more book suggestions, we’re happy to recommend them to you! Use this Book Recommendation form to send us some information about what you like to read and we’ll curate a list just for you.     

If you have any additional questions, you can call us at 412-622-3114 or email us at info@carnegielibrary.org. You can find additional ways to contact us on the Need Help? page.

In the Catalog

Affrilachia

Affrilachia

Testimonies

Chris Aluka Berry

The first book of its kind, Affrilachia: Testimonies is an inspired historical artifact that honors, represents, and celebrates the proud people of color whose history and existence has greatly contributed to the broad tapestry of Appalachia.

From the Catalog
Captioning the Archives

Captioning the Archives

A Conversation in Photographs and Text

Lester Sloan

In this father-daughter collaboration, Lester opened his archive of street photography, portraits, and news photos, and Aisha interviewed him, creating rich, probing, dialogue-based captions for more than one hundred photographs.

From the Catalog
David Hammons

David Hammons

Day’s End

Published to commemorate David Hammons’s (b. 1943) public art project Day’s End, located in New York City, this book documents the sculpture and offers broader context into Hammons’s enigmatic work.

From the Catalog
Dream in the Rhythm

Dream in the Rhythm

Visions of Sound and Spirit in the MoMa Collection

Grace Wales Bonner

Dream in the Rhythm–Visions of Sound and Spirit in the MoMA Collection is an artist’s book created by the London-based designer Grace Wales Bonner as “an archive of soulful expression.”

From the Catalog
Floss

Floss

Roger Erickson

FLOSS comprises a collection of monographs showcasing retrospective photographs by Roger Erickson, highlighting Hip Hop and Rock’n Roll music artists from the 1990s through the 2020s.

From the Catalog
Gordon Parks

Gordon Parks

Born Black : A Personal Report on the Decade of Black Revolt, 1960-1970

Gordon Parks

Originally published in 1971, Gordon Parks’ Born Black was the first book to unite his writing and his photography and also the first to provide a focused survey of Parks’ documentation of a crucial time for the civil rights and Black Power movements.

From the Catalog
Personal Vision

Personal Vision

Photographs

Adger W. Cowans

Master American photographer Adger Cowans’s predominantly black-and-white photography is collected in this monograph of original images taken over the past forty years.

From the Catalog
Picturing Black History

Picturing Black History

Photographs and Stories That Changed the World

A groundbreaking collection of photographs and essays that shed new light on the history of Black America, from the Picturing Black History project

From the Catalog
From Hoopla
Race Stories

Race Stories

Essays on the Power of Images

Maurice Berger

The first title in Aperture’s Vision & Justice Series-featuring a collection of award-winning short essays by Maurice Berger that explore the intersections of photography, race, and visual culture.

From the Catalog
Revolution Is Love

Revolution Is Love

A Year of Black Trans Liberation

Qween Jean

In June 2020, activists Qween Jean and Joela Rivera founded the Stonewall Protests, weekly actions centering Black trans and queer identities that took place across New York City.

From the Catalog
Teenie Harris, Photographer

Teenie Harris, Photographer

Image, Memory, History

Cheryl Finley

Published in cooperation with Carnegie Museum of Art With an introduction by Deborah Willis. The famous faces of Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker, Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, and John F. Kennedy appear among the nearly eighty thousand photographs of Charles “Teenie” Harris (1908-1998).

From the Catalog
Wash Day

Wash Day

Passing the Legacy, Rituals, and Love of Natural Hair to the Next Generation

Tomesha Faxio

A visual celebration of natural Black hair that highlights the powerful connection between mothers and their children during their wash day rituals.

From the Catalog