The Notion of Family by LaToya Ruby FrazierCall Number: Norlin Special Collections - Available on Request
ISBN: 1597112488
Publication Date: 2014-11-30
In this, her first book, LaToya Ruby Frazier offers an incisive photographic exploration of the legacy of racism and economic decline in America's small towns, as embodied by her hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania. The work also considers the impact of that decline on the community and on her family, creating a statement both personal and truly political--an intervention in the histories and narratives of the region. Frazier has compellingly set her story of three generations--her Grandma Ruby, her mother, and herself--against larger questions of civic belonging and responsibility. The work documents her own struggles and interactions with family and the expectations of community, and includes the documentation of the demise of Braddock's only hospital, reinforcing the idea that the history of a place is frequently written on the body as well as the landscape.