Donavon Smallwood and Bryan Schutmaat on “Languor“ | Aperture Conversations

On August 5, 2021, Aperture hosted a special conversation between Aperture Portfolio Prize winners Donavon Smallwood (2021) and Bryan Schutmaat (2013) as they discussed Smallwood’s winning series Languor, meditative black-and-white photographs taken in New York’s Central Park, through which Smallwood envisions Black tranquility at the center of the urban landscape. Smallwood’s images, with their clarity and precision, invite viewers to consider Black people in natural settings connected to their own cultural history. As Smallwood himself affirms, “When you see Black people just being themselves, that’s what the art is.” To see Donavon’s work in print, order Aperture magazine, issue 243 “Delhi: Looking Out/Looking In” here: Subscribe to Aperture’s events newsletter to stay informed of future programming: In this video: 0:00 Welcome from Emily Stewart 3:27 Bryan Schutmaat & Donavon Smallwood 4:29 “Langour” and the year 2020 6:52 Quiet pictures & interior moments 9:15 Relationship with Central Park 10:33 Photographing Central Park 12:17 The Work 12:45 Long Exposures 15:00 Casting for Portraits 17:52 Your process with subjects 20:40 Your influences 23:08 Dorothea Lange 24:42 Judith Joy Ross/Seneca Village 25:04 What motivates us vs. what we end up with 29:45 Portraiture & Developing Relationships 31:56 More Slides 33:15 Timeline for the project 33:50 Are projects ever complete? 35:12 Music for the series 36:24 Q&A 37:06 Why shoot long exposure? 38:22 Communicating with subjects 39:50 Posing vs. self-direction 40:43 How many photos did you take? 42:48 What defines a good portrait? 44:03 Would you consider pursuing film? 44:56 Role of ethnicity in the photographs 47:38 Literary references for the work 48:42 Busyness of landscapes 51:10 Including portraits & landscapes 52:28 Judith Joy Ross quote 56:56 What next? 58:50 Thoughts on your own photos? 1:01:09 Outtakes from the project 1:02:42 Closing Remarks