Florestine Perrault Collins

Florestine Perrault Collins (1895–1988) was an American professional photographer from New Orleans.

Florestine Perrault Collins
Self-portrait, early 1920s
Born
Florestine Marguerite Perrault

1895
New Orleans
Died1988
NationalityAmerican
Known forPhotography

Collins is noted for having created photographs of African-American clients that "reflected pride, sophistication, and dignity." instead of racial stereotypes.[1]

Life and career

Born in Louisiana, Collins was one of six children. She attended public school only until age six, when she was forced to drop out to help bring in family income.

In 1909, Collins began practicing photography at age 14 .[2] Her subjects ranged from weddings, First Communions, and graduations to personal photographs of soldiers who had returned home.[3]At the beginning of her career, Collins had to pass as a white woman to be able to assist photographers.[4]

Collins eventually opened her own studio, catering to African-American families. She gained a loyal following and had success, due to both her photography and marketing skills. Out of 101 African-American women who identified themselves as photographers in the 1920 U.S. Census, Collins was the only one listed in New Orleans .[3]

She advertised in newspapers, playing up the sentimentality of a well-done photograph. Collins also included her photograph in the ads to appeal to customers who thought a female photographer might take better pictures of babies and children.[2]

Collins'first husband, Eilert Bertrand, believed that women should not have careers and tried to restrain her public appearances.

Collins died in 1988.

Legacy

According to the Encyclopedia of Louisiana, Collins' career "mirrored a complicated interplay of gender, racial and class expectations".[2]

."The history of black liberation in the United States could be characterized as a struggle over images as much as it has also been a struggle over rights," according to bell hooks. Collins' photographs are representative of that. By taking pictures of black women and children in domestic settings, she challenged the pervasive stereotypes of the time about black women.

Collins was featured in the 2014 documentary, Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People.[5]

Collins' work was included in exhibitions in New Orleans in the late 1900s and early 2000s, such as Women Artists in Louisiana, 1825–1965: A Place of Their Own,[6]

Collins is the subject of the 2013 book Picturing Black New Orleans: A Creole Photographer’s View of the Early Twentieth Century, by Arthé A. Anthony.[7]

References
  1. "New Film Shares Pioneering Photography of Florestine Perrault Collins", The Florida Bookshelf, December 12, 2014.
  2. Arthé A. Anthony, "Florestine Perrault Collins and the Gendered Politics of Black Portraiture in 1920s New Orleans", Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Spring 2002), pp. 167–188.
  3. "Florestine Perrault Collins." KnowLA Encyclopedia of Louisiana. Ed. David Johnson. Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, September 12, 2012. Web. March 8, 2015.
  4. , Kolb, Karolyn, "Developing Images", New Orleans Magazine, July 2008.
  5. "Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People". Independent Lens. PBS. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  6. "NOMA and THNOC Present Women Artists in Louisiana, 1825–1965: A Place of Their Own", New Orleans Museum of Art.
  7. "Picturing Black New Orleans, Learning through the lens of Florestine Perrault Collins", Capus Conversations, Occidental College, February 11, 2013.
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