The African Lookbook

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McKinley draws on her extensive collection of historical and contemporary photos to present a visual history of African women across centuries. These images tell how deeply cosmopolitan and modern they are in their style; how they were able to reclaim the tools of the colonial oppression that threatened their selfhood and livelihoods. She shows that, while African studios captured the dignity, austerity, and grandeur of African women, photos by Europeans are mostly nudes, revealing the relationships of white men and Black females: at best, a grave power imbalance. -- adapted from jacket