In Conversation: Carla Jay Harris and Brenda E. Stevenson
Making Bitter Earth

Moderated by Michelle Branch
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
4:30 - 6:00 PM PST

On Wednesday, August 12th SF Camerawork was pleased to host an online conversation with artist Carla Jay Harris and historian Brenda E. Stevenson, Ph.D., moderated by SF Camerawork Board President Michelle Branch. Harris and Stevenson discussed their recent collaboration on Bitter Earth, a site-specific installation whose title is taken from the 1960s blues track “This Bitter Earth,” written by Clyde Otis and sung by legendary blues women and rhythm and blues singers Dinah Washington, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, and Mikki Howard.

CARLA JAY HARRIS
Born in Indianapolis, IN, but raised traveling the globe as the child of a military officer, Carla Harris’s social and artistic development was impacted tremendously by the geopolitical and natural environments she encountered. She fervently believes that space (physical and physiological) has a fundamental, lasting impact on personal identity. While the environment around us is constantly evolving, photography has the power to capture humanity in a place, in a moment - transforming a flicker in time into a lasting, appreciable statement. Carla's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in New York, Los Angeles, DC, Paris, and Quebec. She completed undergraduate coursework at the School of Visual Arts in New York, received her bachelor's degree with distinction from the University of Virginia, and her MFA from UCLA in 2015. She currently lives/works in Los Angeles, CA. Her works are included in the collections of USC Fisher Museum, Los Angeles, CA; California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA; The Museum of Fine Arts, Sherbrook, Quebec, Canada; John Hopkins University Law School, Baltimore, MD; and numerous private collections. She is represented by Luis De Jesus Los Angeles.

BRENDA E. STEVENSON
Brenda E. Stevenson, Ph.D. is the Nickoll Family Endowed Chair in the Department of History and a Professor of African American Studies at UCLA. She is a social historian whose work centers on gender, race, family, and social conflict in America and the Atlantic World from the colonial period through the late 20th century. Professor Stevenson’s research has been supported by numerous organizations, including: the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation; the National Humanities Center; the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences; the American Academy in Berlin; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the American Association of University Women; the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, and the University of California’s Chancellor’s Office. Her publications include the award-winning books: Life in Black and White: Family and Community in the Slave South; and The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins: Justice, Gender and the Origins of the L.A. Riots along with What is Slavery?; The Journals of Charlotte Forten Grimke, and numerous co-authored, co-edited works, journal articles and book chapters.

MICHELLE BRANCH
Michelle Branch (she/hers) is the Board President of San Francisco Camerawork. Michelle collects contemporary artworks and in 2002 first learned about collecting photography through San Francisco Camerawork. In her professional life, Michelle manages a boutique law firm, where she represents founders, emerging companies, and investors. She holds undergraduate and law degrees from Stanford University, and a master's and a doctorate in 19th Century United States history from the University of California, Berkeley. Michelle received a dissertation research fellowship from Harvard University and has taught law and history as a visiting faculty member at UC Berkeley and NYU Law School. Michelle also serves on the board of Oregon Shakespeare Festival and as the Chair of United Way Worldwide's Women United Global Leadership Council.

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