Omar Victor Diop x Lee Schulman

Being There appears to be a constellation of familiar images—fragments of lives once tucked away in family albums—where fleeting celebrations and moments of intimacy are frozen in time. But these emotionally charged snapshots also create the illusion of continuous happiness: they carefully frame everyday life while relegating the rough edges of reality to the margins. It is precisely in these silences that Being There finds its strength.

Taken in North America in the 1950s and 1960s, these photographs bear witness to an era marked by economic recovery and the tensions of the Cold War, but also by racial segregation and the struggles for civil rights. Lee Shulman and Omar Victor Diop intervene in these seemingly carefree scenes, introducing a Black presence where history had rendered it impossible.

Their gesture cracks the visual innocence of these images and transforms them into incisive stances on race, class, and exclusion.

By preserving the grain and textures of the original photographs, Shulman and Diop cultivate a subtle tension between the ordinary and the extraordinary. Diop's appearance lays bare the isolation of the Other: his presence acts both as a disruption and as a silent act of resistance. The result intrigues, unsettles, sometimes amuses—but its critical edge remains sharp and uncompromising.

Being There doesn't offer easy answers: it opens up a space for reflection on visibility, representation, and the narratives we inherit. By intertwining fiction and history, Shulman and Diop confront the unease surrounding the issue of racism, reminding us that discomfort should never lead to silence, but rather fuel attention, questioning, and engagement.

Taous Dahmani

Exhibition produced by the Rencontres d'Arles.

Publication: Being There , Textuel, 2023.

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