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Self Portrait in Mirror |
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Self Portrait in Mirror |
"And we recognized and were proud of our group's own style wherever we discerned it in jazzmen and prize fighters, ballplayers and tap dancers; in gesture, inflection, intonation, timbre and phrasing. Indeed, in all those nuances of expression and attitude which reveal a culture."
Ralph Ellison, 1953 (from Shadow and Act).
Doc's Legacy opens at the Illinois State Museum January 18 through March 29, 1998.
This exhibition features 75 black-and-white photographs focusing primarily on work from the 1940s, '50s and '60s.
Bom in Mt. Vernon in 1911, Doc Helm worked as a full-time photographer for the Secretary of State's Office, and
part-time chronicler of Springfield's African-American community for over fifty years until his death in 1994.
This much-loved local figure left behind thousands of photographs ranging from portraiture to photojournalistic work.
As a state photographer Doc Helm documented historic events and people, including state and national leaders.
He also freelanced for many local organizations within the African-American community. Most of the prints displayed in this
exhibition are slice-of-life scenes taken in and around Springfield and are samples from the more personal, creative and nostalgic
side of Doc's photographic output. Some of the leaders and celebrities included in this show are Eleanor Roosevelt,
Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Joe Louis, and Gene Autry.
This exhibit is sponsored in part by a grant from the Springfield Area Arts Council and the "Doc" Helm Memorial Fund.
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