Lyle Ashton Harris: Today I Shall Judge Nothing That Occurs: Selections from the Ektachrome Archive

by Lyle Ashton Harris (Photographer), Johanna Burton (Introduction), Vince Aletti (Contributor)

Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, a radical cultural scene emerged in cities across the globe, finding expression in the galleries, nightclubs, and bedrooms of New York, London, Los Angeles, and Rome. In Lyle Ashton Today I Shall Judge Nothing That Occurs , the artist’s archive of 35 mm Ektachrome images are presented alongside journal entries and recollections from a host of artistic and cultural figures. It offers a unique document of what Harris has described as “ephemeral moments and emblematic figures shot in the 1980s and ’90s, against a backdrop of seismic shifts in the art world, the emergence of multiculturalism, the second wave of AIDS activism, and incipient globalization.”

As a young artist experimenting with installation, performance, and collage at the time, Harris obsessively photographed his friends, lovers, and individuals who either were, or would become, figures of influence, such as Marlon Riggs, Cornel West, bell hooks, Stuart Hall, Klaus Biesenbach, Nan Goldin, Catherine Opie, Glenn Ligon, and others. The images record the confluence of multiple international communities―gathering points for the exchange of ideas and the development of theoretical positions on art and culture that continue to resonate to this day. Together, these photographs and the journals not only sketch a personal history of a unique time of importance to contemporary art, but also show the development and shaping of Harris’s eye and influences as an artist.

Genres: Photography

288 pages, Hardcover

Published November 5, 2017

Reviews

[Mari C.L. Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an incredible work. The essays and the archive work together beautifully in that the essays themselves — each dealing with bits and pieces and generally in a familiar way, appropriate for the deeply personal scale of the images — come to feel like a part of Harris’s art themselves.

So beautiful and personal and cool (so many of a generation of intellectuals all gathered together intimately!!) and sexy, yet also containing questions of memory and loss alongside desire and identity creation. Love love loved this.

[Stephanie Dargusch Borders · Rating 4 out of 5]

A photography book of ektachrome film that depicts life as a young HIV+ LGBTQ Black man as he navigates the world. It’s an intimate look into a small sliver of time. I’ve never been surprised with a dick pic in a book before so I can now cross that off my bucket list. I love the time period and the photos. The essays were great too and I liked the brief length of them but there were too many. Also I dislike that there’s a selection of them at the end of the book. Photography books should always end with pictures imo.

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this book is an aphorism which might hint at the impossibility of objectivity. When we look at these photographs, we make judgements. How noble is it not to judge? Is it possible? Especially when our conclusion from looking at these photographs and reading the texts reveals Lyle Ashton Harris as a cultural insider. This is an archive of his experiences and who he is seeing. We are always being judged by who we know and what we do, and how we behave. Can we try not to judge Harris? Or is it impossible now knowing what we know.

[Lilla Rosenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredible… excellent photos of course, with such thought provoking essays, especially concerning intimacy + time + archive. wondering about simplicity in presentation, and how ordinariness becomes exceptional with the passage of time…or maybe it is always exceptional, prompting the photo in the first place

[Theo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just chock-full of really good information: names,books, films, exhibitions. So many meaningful stories and opinions on this archive. Really spurred my own thinking and will continue to be a reference.

[kimby · Rating 4 out of 5]

for fans of Belize from Angels