ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the spectacle of Janet Jackson on framing the black female body for photographic imagery because the still and motion pictures of her body represent something larger than what the performer might have intended. It considers configurations of black female bodies in both photography and film and determine the effectiveness of black feminist interventions in the realm of visual–cultural production to trouble notions of seeing/unseeing. The chapter examines photographic representations of the black body in terms of aesthetics, sexuality, color, and size. It analyses black women's artistic re-presentations as they contrast with national and international political representations of beauty in popular culture, namely, the impact of Vanessa Williams' historic win as the first black Miss America and the effect of Nigerian Agbani Darego's victory as the first black African Miss World. The chapter deals with black women visual artists across continents to create a transnational black feminist criticism that addresses global circulations of photographed bodies.
