Vintage portraits of Harlem street style
Hailing from France, Martine Barrat got her start as a dancer working with Pink Floyd and Soft Machine. After travelling to Edinburgh for the International Dance Festival, she met Ellen Stewarr – director of La MaMa Experimental Theater on New York’s Lower East Side.
“She offered me a ticket to come to the city, with my son, to dance with her company,” Barrat recalls. In June 1968, she arrived and made the city her home, settling into Harlem before moving to the South Bronx during the height of white flight.
With a group of jazz musicians, Barrat co-created the Human Arts Ensemble – a collective working with children staging street performances and running video and music workshops.
“I wasn’t trying to be a photographer,” Barrat says. “Two incredible philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari gave me a video camera saying we should document the events we were creating at La Mama every day with the kids from all over the city. This, I loved.”
Young Bogart (Harlem), 1979
Mabel Albert (Harlem), 1982
One night, Barrat brought her video equipment to a train platform in the South Bronx to film a local gang. “They had planned to rob me, but thought I was so funny and brave, they took me to the basement of a building and we filmed all night.”
Barrat continued on the project for many years. The video was first screened at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1978, then taken to Italy by famed film director Bernardo Bertolucci, where it aired on prime-time television.
Then one night, people broke into Barrat’s apartment and stole her video camera. “I was devastated. I had no money. The next day a group of the gang members appeared at my door with a gift — it was a Leica. This is when I started to do still photographs.”
A selection of these works, now on view in Martine Barrat: 1979-1993 takes us to Harlem and the South Bronx when “benign neglect” gave way to the twin plagues of crack and AIDS, further devastating the community. But Barrat’s photographs honour the beauty and dignity of the people in their fight to survive, creating an indelible portrait of the times.
Love on her way to the Rhythm Club (Harlem), 1993
I’m grown but nobody knows it (Harlem), 1988
Lifelong friend Gordon Parks said of Barrat: “Her undying dedication to its people, their moods, and the way of life is difficult to comprehend. Without doubt, she travels a hard road every day of her experience, embracing people who the world seems to have forgotten. And daily the most forlorn of them come to seek her warmth and cherish her friendship.”
Of Parks, Barrat says: “He showed me a lot, not through language but just by looking. He showed me how to listen to my heart, not words, and be true to life through the photographs.”
Unlike many street photographers, Barrat is an insider documenting her world. “This is where I live. It is on these streets that I am the happiest. I’ve tried to remain true to the way my subjects live, with love and respect. It’s wonderful to look back at these photographs and see how much love has passed through my life.”
Go tell it on the mountain (Harlem), 1984
Before the fight (Harlem), 1983
Eric Williams, the dominoes champion (Harlem), 1983
Martine Barrat: 1979-1993 is on view at Nina Johnson Gallery, Miami, through November 14.
Follow Miss Rosen on Twitter.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
You might like
The sharp rise of video game photography
Point, shoot — As the entertainment medium’s fidelity levels increase and developers build more powerful tools, a growing community of gamers are pushing the boundaries of image making in virtual worlds. Vicky Jessop meets people at the forefront of the emerging artform.
Joyous photos from the heart of the UK’s radical free festival movement
Common Grounds — The photographer has been capturing British counterculture for the past half century. A new exhibition looks at his archive sitting at the intersection of music, community and grassroots protest.
The lasting community legacy of a legendary Californian boxing gym
Moretón — Since opening in the ’80s, the Coachella Valley Boxing Club has trained multiple world champions, while providing a vital hub for local youth. In his new photobook, Darren Vargas documents its tight-knit, Chicano-led community, while also weaving a deeply personal story.
Inside the grunge golden age with Hole’s former bassist
My ’90s Rock Photographs — Melissa Auf der Maur’s new photobook is a sprawling visual memoir of her time at the heart of the US scene, from Tinker to The Smashing Pumpkins.
Introducing ‘The Chaos Isles’, a new photozine by Huck and Yushy
Normal Island — From unlicensed raves to the solstice at Stonehenge, furries to giant vegetable growers, Yushy is one of the UK’s best lensmen of its wild side. ‘The Chaos Isles’ will be sent out exclusively to Club Huck+ members.
Join Club Huck+ to get the most from Huck
Dispatches from the sharp edge of culture — Members get our print magazine, special photozines, The Huck Long Read newsletter, discounts from our friends and partners, digital versions of back issues and priority access to events.
