PENUMBRA Members Gallery | Cindy Weisbart
“Up from under
Downward towards the tumble
Bodies flying through the air
Filled with motion
Never a stumble
These images which could be considered conventional
Go way beyond
The rhythms and intimate gestures
Allow us affinity
Which relates to physical divinity
Teamwork is everything
This photographer knows the game”
“One-two-three Bulldogs! Four-five-six Family!”
Nkrumah Jones coaches a nationally ranked NJCAA (Junior College) Division III men’s basketball team, Boston’s Bunker Hill Community College Bulldogs. He grew up in 1970s Boston during the racial violence known as “the busing crisis.” He graduated from Bunker Hill, had a successful career in finance, and left it to return to his passion: mentoring young people through education and basketball. We are friends who teach together at a nearby public high school. He invited me to visit his team many times.
In his gym, I discovered the protected space Jones creates for a group of young men of color to fully be themselves - practicing, vulnerable, happy, growing, learning, playful, angry, frustrated, exuberant. Coach and players share humor, passion, mutual understanding and interdependence. His mentorship is multi-layered: demanding, nurturing, politically astute. During the season, I photographed them three times a week.
James Baldwin wrote, “ That man who is forced each day to snatch his manhood, his identity, out of the fire of human cruelty that rages to destroy it...achieves his own authority, and that is unshakable.” My photographs contribute to a visual representation of Black men achieving their own unshakeable authority in context of the racial fire.
“Three and Six!,” Jones calls. “One-two-three Bulldogs ! Four-five-six Family !” they respond.
Cindy Weisbart composes moments of interdependence and empathy in the photographic frame, through the interplay of gesture, light, and contexts unseen. She is inspired by the collaboration and critique of The Photo League, the Kamoinge Collective and the Bronx Documentary Center. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows around Boston and in New York since 2013. Cindy is based near Cambridge, MA where she is a public high school history teacher. Last year on sabbatical in New York City, Cindy studied teen photography programs to create history classes that incorporate student documentary work.
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