Unveiling the Symbolism in Nora Faustine's Nude Self-Portraits

For more than ten years, photographer Nona Faustine has been taking self-portraits in and around New York City. Often, she poses completely naked except for a pair of clean white pumps. Her stunning photographs bring viewers into forgotten histories. The series, "White Shoes," sheds light on the city's involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and the way Black bodies are perceived in art.

Currently, Faustine's work is being showcased at the Brooklyn Museum in her first solo exhibition. As a native of Brooklyn, this exhibition is a significant milestone for her. Through her photographs, viewers are transported to various locations in all five boroughs of New York City, many of which were built on the legacies of enslaved individuals.

Faustine's passion for photography was ignited by her father and uncle, who gifted her first camera at the tender age of four. She further honed her skills by attending photography classes in elementary school. It was during her graduate studies at Bard College's International Center of Photography program that she began working on the series that would later become "White Shoes".

In an email to CNN, Faustine expressed that her series is a culmination of her knowledge, experiences, and emotions. She described it as a blend of fine art, conceptual, and documentary photography, reflecting her heart and soul poured into every image.

Faustine wears a golden cape in photos to symbolize the feminine divine, which brings positive change and protects sites with legacies of the enslaved. In the image above, Faustine is seen posing at the African Burial Ground National Monument in downtown Manhattan.

A golden cape Faustine wears in photos serves to represent the feminine divine, an energy that promotes positive change in the world and serves to protect sites that carry the legacies of the enslaved. Pictured above, Faustine poses at the African Burial Ground National Monument in downtown Manhattan.

New York City has a long history of being involved in the enslavement of Black people. Since the 1620s, Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam, which later became the city, used enslaved labor to help develop the colony.

Jacob Morris, the head of the Harlem Historical Society and architect of legislation to create a freedom trail in the city, explained how Wall Street in New York City financed the slavocracy in the south through the booming cotton market before the Civil War. Support for the system and the South was strong due to the significant profits made from slavery through the banking system.

In the 18th century, enslaved individuals were sold at slave markets on Wall Street in Lower Manhattan for more than 50 years. By 1730, forty-two percent of White households in New York City owned enslaved Black people, making it the second-largest percentage of household slave ownership in the United States after Charleston, South Carolina.

In the movie "White Shoes," Faustine consistently wears white kitten heels. She believes these shoes symbolize the pressures that Black women and girls experience to conform to Western beauty standards and the White patriarchy.

The first image in the series, titled "Venus of Vlacke Bos" in 2012, sheds light on the impact of slavery in Brooklyn. Back in 1790, Brooklyn had the highest number of enslaved individuals north of the Mason-Dixon line. In this photograph, Faustine is portrayed nude except for her heels and gloves, sitting on blue silk fabric in a studio. Her hands are delicately folded over her knee in a stylized pose, with a tiara on her head symbolizing Western royalty and the dehumanizing treatment of enslaved Black women by White individuals.

If someone were to be concerned with the nudity in her work, they “have a problem with the Black female form,” Faustine told CNN. "(They) have a problem with women’s autonomy, celebrating the Black body, and seeing that depicted in art.” Pictured above, Faustine's 2016 photo "Isabelle, Lefferts House, Brooklyn (Self-Portrait)" taken outside the Lefferts Historic House museum in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

Faustine told CNN that if someone is concerned with the nudity in her work, they actually "have a problem with the Black female form." She also mentioned that such individuals may have issues with women's autonomy, appreciating the beauty of the Black body, and embracing it as a subject of art. The photo above shows Faustine's 2016 piece titled "Isabelle, Lefferts House, Brooklyn (Self-Portrait)," captured outside the Lefferts Historic House museum located in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

Nona Faustine/Courtesy Brooklyn Museum

Faustine chose to pose nude in the early images of "White Shoes" as a way to honor her ancestors, Black women today, and herself. The photographer explained that this decision was inspired by the daguerreotypes of Saartjie "Sarah" Baartman, a South African woman who was taken to Europe and exhibited in a human zoo in the 19th century.

During a press preview for her exhibit, Faustine spoke to CNN about the importance of representation in art and photography. She noted that the historical depiction of the Black body in these mediums has been problematic, and she had rarely seen herself represented in museums the way she wanted to be.

Related article

Afro-Cuban artist reimagines Renaissance art with Black people at the center

The Black body, as a body of work, represents a Black female who has given birth, survived, and is now a free woman celebrating her freedom, body, and people in her own way. Nona Faustine, the artist, emphasizes that her work acknowledges the history of slavery but she is not portraying a slave. Instead, she is portraying herself authentically in all of her images.

Senior curator Catherine Morris from the Brooklyn Museum, who worked on the exhibition with curatorial assistant Carla Forbes, pointed out the powerful double meaning in Faustine's photographs. In her 2013 piece "From Her Body Came Their Greatest Wealth," Faustine is depicted standing on an apple box in the middle of Wall Street, bare with chains on her arms. According to Morris, Faustine's pose reflects the confidence of a public speaker, while also honoring the location where her ancestors were once sold by White people. This photograph showcases Faustine's self-assurance and sheds light on the historical injustices faced by Black individuals at the very site she is reclaiming.

Faustine's 2021 photo "When The Mind Forgets The Soul Remembers," shot at an enslaved African burial ground in the Bronx.

Faustine's "White Shoes" exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum opens with her 2012 shot "Venus of Vlacke Bos," (far left).

Courtesy Brooklyn Museum

The exhibition spans a decade's worth of Faustine's work, a journey she describes as "time travel" in uplifting Black voices of the past, present and future.

As visitors explore the exhibition and view Faustine's artwork, they will notice a gradual increase in the amount of clothing on her figures. This symbolizes the passage of time and the journey towards freedom for Black individuals.

Faustine explained that the project involves time travel. She mentioned that by the end of the journey, she is fully clothed and back in the present moment, symbolizing a journey through the past and present.

The transformation is gradual. Initially, Faustine is captured wearing only a black and blue scarf on her head in photos taken at Brooklyn Borough Hall and a Chinatown playground. As the project progresses with shoots across Brooklyn and Manhattan, she is still topless but now wears a white skirt. During these shoots, she holds props such as a gun and a sign with a quote from Sojourner Truth's famous speech "Ain't I A Woman," paying tribute to those who fought for the abolition of slavery.

Faustine's 2021 photo "When The Mind Forgets The Soul Remembers," shot at an enslaved African burial ground in the Bronx.

As the exhibition and her photographic journey wrap up, Faustine is captured in a white dress and straw hat, standing with her back to the viewer. These images were taken at Shelter Island and Staten Island, significant historical sites where enslaved Africans and Native Americans were held from 1651 to 1820. The last photo shows Faustine in her regular attire.

Related article

How ‘Soul Train’ immortalized an exuberant era of Black style and culture

Faustine, in her work "White Shoes," urges her audience to face the uncomfortable truths deeply ingrained in New York City, all the while paying tribute to the legacies of Black individuals who have been integral to the city's history.

She expressed, "I hope people can see the progress we've made. I want them to feel proud... I want them to delve into the narrative and understand their own history." Faustine emphasized the importance of acknowledging a history that is currently being suppressed and criticized nationwide.

Editor's P/S:

Nona Faustine's "White Shoes" exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum is a powerful and moving portrayal of the history of slavery in New York City and its lasting impact on Black communities. Through her self-portraits, Faustine sheds light on the forgotten histories of enslaved individuals and challenges the traditional representation of Black bodies in art. Her work is a testament to the resilience and strength of Black women and a call to action for viewers to confront the uncomfortable truths of our past.

Faustine's