In another trip to London I went to the Tate Modern. In the display works I was attracted by the photographs of György Kepes ‘Composing for the camera’, which were taken in 1938 till 1942. They show how he arranged objects in the studio specifically to be recorded by the camera. He was interested in the realtionshio between art, science and technology and his images include scientific and mechanical items alongside material from the natural world.

Lighting and composition are crucial elements of his work, what made me realize how important lighting is to create a certain effect or sensation and to transmit different feelings.  Light was an abiding concern throughout his career. He explained: ‘The whole visible world, natural and man-made, is a light world. Its heights and depths, its great outlines and intimate details, are mapped by light’.

The exhibition Soul of a Nation was relevant to the subject of Activism as it displayed the work of Black artists during the civil rights movement in America in the late 60s; they responded, through their art, either abstract or legible, to political and cultural changes and embraced the African American culture and their power. Throughout the exhibition we can see the importance of typography, vibrant contrasting colours and strong, sharp outlines to release a message or create a feeling of strength and passion. Colors such as red, black and yellow are reiterated in many of the works displayed. The paintings and collage works of artists like as Romare Bearden (Mysteries II, 1964), Gerald Williams and Reginald Gammon (Freedom now, 1963) had a graphic strength and powerful shapes, colors and other illustrative elements. Roy de Carava’s photographs were very thought provoking.

‘I felt it my moral obligation as a Black artist, to try to graphically document what I feel socially’ David Hammon