“I chose to use the camera as a tool to document different aspects of life —who we are, what we do, how we live, what our communities look like. These various patterns are all interwoven, like a quilt into important patterns of history.”—Earlie Hudnall, Jr.
The subject of this photograph is a young African American boy who approached photographer Earlie Hudnall Jr. on the streets of Galveston and asked him to take his photograph. Shirtless and wearing baggy jeans, the boy looks directly into the camera. He purposely displays his underwear, along with a beeper and a thick gold chain around his neck—items commonly associated with drug dealers and street gangs. The boy’s apparel is incongruous with his age, yet he plays his role convincingly, allowing no suggestion of vulnerability in his cool demeanor. His relaxed, graceful pose projects self-reliance and defiant confidence. His smooth dark skin takes on a velvet quality against the roughly textured cinderblock wall.
To Hudnall, a camera is simply a mechanical apparatus with which to document human existence. He does not pose his subjects, but instead allows his “gut” to tell him when to take a picture as he walks around neighborhoods. He works primarily in Houston’s Third Ward, a predominately African American neighborhood. However, this form of documentation is not truly a factual visual record, but rather a poignant documentation of fleeting glimpses of human emotion.
This photograph’s title, Hip Hop, refers to a segment of American culture that has its roots and a large proportion of its membership in the African American community. Widely used to describe a category of music, hip hop actually encompasses much more, including language, dance, dress, and art.
A native of Missouri, Earlie Hudnall, Jr. moved to Houston, Texas after serving in the Marines during the Vietnam War. He attended Texas Southern University (TSU) in Houston under the guidance of the illustrious African American professor and artist John Biggers. The photography department at TSU was still relatively new at the time, and Hudnall had little experience in the field, having only purchased his first camera while in Vietnam. Yet he showed great promise, and after receiving a B.A. in Art Education in 1976, he began work as a staff photographer for the university. Hudnall has participated in many programs and projects in the Houston area, and continues to work most often in the African American community.
