Cover Image: Photo portrait of Carole Denise Fredericks and artist commentary
© Entrée to Black Paris

On the evening of Saturday, June 3, 2023, a diverse group of visitors to Little Africa Village gathered to listen to photographer Henry Roy tell the story of Regards Noirs, an extraordinary coffee-table-style book of Black portraits published in 1996 as a way to fill the void of positive representation of Afro-descendant people in France.

Regards Noir book cover
© Entrée to Black Paris

This event followed on the heels of the May 31 opening of 25 Years of Regards Noirs, an exhibition of a selection of photos from the book, which doubled as the final reception for the Black Portraiture[s] conference held at NYU and the Musée du quai Branly Jacques Chirac on May 29-30, 2023.

During Saturday's event, Roy told the audience how he and his family moved to France from Haïti, how he only saw crude, stereotypical images of blacks as he grew up in the 1970s and 80s, and how young Afro-French people had no positive reference other than “white” with which to identify, except for a few rare athletes and musicians. When he undertook the project that would become Regards Noirs, he felt it was important not to limit himself to photographing people in these fields.  So, he reached out to intellectuals, scientists, artists, and others to present renowned people with a wide range of expertise.  

In written commentary that presented his motivation for producing Regards Noirs, Roy talks about the damaging effect that the concept of universalism - which does not recognize race or religious affiliation as valid ways of identifying France's population - has had on French society.  He says that while this "denial" was put into place for good reasons, the ultimate effect has been to make Black French people constitutionally invisible, even as they are stigmatized.

Henry Roy addresses the audience
© Entrée to Black Paris

Henry Roy
© Entrée to Black Paris

After speaking and answering questions for roughly half an hour, everyone descended to the lower floor to view the exhibition of splendid photos.

Roy's French-language commentary about the making of Regards Noirs is displayed on three walls in the exhibition.

Artist commentary and photo portraits
© Entrée to Black Paris

Photo portraits
© Entrée to Black Paris

Portraits of Donald Caldwell and Manu Dibango
© Entrée to Black Paris

The portraits and books are available for purchase.

25 Years of Regards Noirs will be on display through August 2, 2023.  For more information, contact Patrick Banks at Little Africa Village.

Little Africa Village
6 bis, rue des Gardes
75018 Paris
Metro: Barbès-Rochechouart (Lines 2 and 4)
Internet: https://littleafrica.fr
Email: hello@littleafrica.fr

Henry Roy and Carol Denise Fredericks
© Entrée to Black Paris