Barron Claiborne
{{Short description|American photographer and cinematographer}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Barron Claiborne
| image = File:Photographic artist Barron Claiborne in Los Angeles 2019. Photo by Ithaka Darin Pappas.jpg
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| caption = Barron Claiborne in Los Angeles 2019. Photo by Ithaka Darin Pappas
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| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1967}}
| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| nationality = American
| field = Photography
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Barron Claiborne (born 1967) is an American photographer and cinematographer who grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. He began taking photographs at the age of ten. After moving to New York in 1989 he began assisting established photographers such as; Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Saint Claire Born, and Richard Numeroff. His photographic mentor, was Gordon Parks.{{Cite web|url=http://thesource.com/2014/01/10/barron-claiborne-imagemaker/|title=Barron Claiborne Imagemaker|website=Thesource.com|date=January 10, 2014}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.annenbergspaceforphotography.org/person/barron-claiborne/|title=Barron Claiborne|website=Annenberg Space for Photography}}{{Cite web |title=Brooklyn Museum |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/169480 |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=www.brooklynmuseum.org}}
Claiborne's portraits of musicians have been published in hundreds of publications, such as his image of DJ Khaled that appeared on the September 2016 cover of Paper magazine. His work has also appeared on dozens of record covers including; Tricky's Angels with Dirty Faces and N'Dea Davenport's album Bring It On.
Collections and Exhibitions (selection)
His fine art images are in permanent collections around the world including the Polaroid Museum in Cambridge, the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Pérez Art Museum Miami, and MoCADA. His work has been shown in Paris, Martha's Vineyard, and Art Basel. In 2012, Claiborne received a grant from The National Endowment for the Arts and the following year received a grant from Creative Time.{{cite web|url=http://www.papermag.com/dj-khaled-major-key-1991157556.html|website=Papermag.com|title=DJ Khaled On the Moment That Changed Everything}}{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/2342809-Barron-Claiborne|website=Discogs.com|title=Barron Claiborne}}
"The King of New York"
File:"King of New York" Biggie Smalls.jpg
One of Claiborne's most significant achievements in the urban music community is a series of portraits of The Notorious B.I.G wearing a plastic gold crown in front of a deep red backdrop.{{Cite web|url=https://potd.pdnonline.com/2017/09/48427/|title=Iconic Hip Hop Contact Sheets|date=September 15, 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenalvarez/2019/04/30/contact-high-a-visual-history-of-hip-hop-is-a-pure-documentation-of-a-cultural-phenomenon/|title='CONTACT HIGH: A Visual History Of Hip-Hop' Is A Pure Documentation Of A Cultural Phenomenon|first=Lauren|last=Alvarez|website=Forbes.com}}{{cite news|url=https://www.gqmiddleeast.com/how-i-took-the-last-ever-picture-of-biggie-smalls|title=How I Took The Last Ever Picture Of Biggie Smalls|newspaper=Gq Middle East|date=9 March 2019 }} The pictures were made in Claiborne's New York studio in March 1997, only three days before the rapper's untimely death in Los Angeles, resulting from a drive-by shooting. The most known image from the series entitled "The King of New York,"{{Cite web|url=http://www.theannenberg.org/events/king-of-new-york-portrait-session-with-barron-claiborne/|title="King of New York" Portrait Session with Barron Claiborne|website=Annenberg Space for Photography}} is one photograph from a couple of dozen images of the rapper from the photo session.{{cite web|url=https://qz.com/quartzy/1602581/biggie-kendrick-lamar-and-salt-n-pepa-in-rarely-seen-photography/|title=From Biggie to Kendrick Lamar: outtakes from hip-hop's most iconic photos|first1=Johnny|last1=Simon|website=Qz.com|date=26 April 2019 }} Most of these other photographs from the session had never been seen by the public before being included in the 2018 book Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop. In a 2019 exhibit based upon the book, (hosted by The Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles), an entire installation of this memorable photo session was constructed. In addition to a 100 cm x 150 cm print of the principal image, the museum exhibit installation of "The King of New York" featured one of The Notorious B.I.G's music videos playing on a small screen alongside of two enlarged contact prints as well as the original two-dollar plastic crown that Claiborne had purchased specifically for the shoot, displayed in a glass jewel case as if it was made of real gold.
In an interview given to undiscovermusic.com in 2019, Contact High's's creator and curator Vikki Tobak described the King of New York image as, 'the Mona Lisa of hip hop'.' And added “It is a defining photo when you think of Biggie."
On September 15, 2020, the plastic costume crown that Claiborne had purchased for six dollars to use in the King of New York photo series was auctioned at Sotheby's in New York City as part of a hip-hop auction collection. The crown was sold for $594,750. The photo shoot featuring the crown had been made for Rap Pages magazine. Having purchased two crowns prior to Small's arrival at the studio, Claiborne discovered that both were too small for Biggie's head, though he was able to use one by removing its foam padding. Sean "Diddy" Combs, then CEO of label Bad Boy Records, was also present at the 1997 photo session. Combs voiced concerns that the photographs would make the rapper look like an ad for Burger King, but both Mr. Claiborne and Biggie Smalls disregarded his comments and proceeded with the pictures.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/sothebys-hip-hop-auction/index.html|title=Sotheby's Hip Hop Auction|website=CNN|date=16 September 2020 }}
Solo exhibitions
- 2018 – Barron Claiborne Illuminados (Santos Negros) "The Luminous Black Saints" (Curated By Rebecca Pietri){{Cite web|url=http://www.plus81.us/exhibition/illuminados-santos-negros/ |title=+81 Gallery New York » Blog Archive » Illuminados ( Santos Negros ) }}
- 2019 – Bishop Gallery - Bedford-Stuyvesant{{Cite web|url=http://brooklyn.news12.com/story/40098376/fans-mark-22-years-since-slaying-of-notorious-big|title='The King of New York': Art exhibit pays tribute to Biggie|website=Brooklyn.news12.com}}
Group exhibitions
- 2001 – Brooklyn Museum of Art "Body and Soul" (Curated by Barbara Head Millstein){{Cite web|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2001/03/06/body-and-soul-3/|title=Body and Soul | Village Voice|website=Villagevoice.com|date=6 March 2001 }}
Books
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs artist|2342809-Barron-Claiborne}}
- {{IMDb name|nm1803755|Barron Claiborne}}
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Category:American portrait photographers
Category:American fine art photographers
Category:African-American photographers