Rahim Fortune
Hardtack (Signed)
Published by Loose Joints, 2024
Size: 28.7 x 23.8 cm
144 pages
Hardcover
Languages: English
Flour, water, and salt. These are the single ingredients that make Hardtack: a Civil War food long associated with survivalism, land migration, and its extremely long shelf life. Drawing on this story as a metaphor for the enduring nature of Black culture and traditions, Hardtack uncovers the roots that connect Fortune's Indigenous landscape to the conflicts and nuances associated with post-emancipation America.
In the remainder of his monograph, Fortune borrows from the language of vernacular and archival photography to interrogate his community's historical relationship to photography. Rooted in the landscape, Rahim Fortune often uses sites of historical and cultural interest as a guide, but not as a subject, implying the deep ties that bind modern Black communities with resilience to their regions, in the face of adversity and joy.
A prominent theme in Hardtack is Fortune's striking portraits of coming-of-age traditions. Within them, young bull riders, praise dancers, and pageant queens gracefully inherit and embrace these forms of communal ritual. Fortune's dignified eye pays homage to the rigor, discipline, and creativity of these cultural performances, as well as the intergenerational conversation between youth and elders who pass on these traditions. Bringing together nearly a decade of work, Hardtack continues the weaving of Fortune's documentary and personal history, marking a sincere expression of love and passion for a region that nourished the artist personally and creatively, while also marking a significant contribution to photography of the American South; with text by Imani Perry.