Observer’s Periscope
Portland/Observer
■Section A Supplement
Thursday, January 27, 1972
Photographer’s first book
portrays 'Black Woman
Chester Higgins, J r , is a
young black man. He Is young
in the most dynamic sense of
that word — alternately vol
uble and reflective, confident
•nd questioning, playful and
serious. And 1« is black in
tl« finest sense of that word
—undefenslvely
proud, un
mistakably sincere, unabash
edly outspoken in discussing
the qualities he values in the
women of his race.
" I acknowledge the fact that
there Is a kind of beauty
that white Western man sees
in his woman. 1 also acknow
ledge the fact that there is
a standard of beauty that black
men see in th e ir women,
these standards of beauty are
in their own waysdlfferentand
have no need to be defensive
of each other.
There Is a
certain kind of beauty In black
women that appeals to black
«yes. That beauty Is a func
tion of our liv in g .”
During his Alabama boy
hood, says Higgins, he came
to appreciate "th e joy of liv
ing among black people, the
love, die s e n s itiv ity ." Three
years ago while studying at
Tuskegee Institute, he discov
ered photography, and found it
offered him a way of sharing
with others his strong sense
of "th e inheientgracefulness,
beauty, pride in being black."
Eighty of his photographs
taken in Harlem and through
out the South and portraying
the many faces and lifestyles
of "B la c k Woman,” aie pub
lis h » ! by the McCall Book D iv
ision in both hard and soft
f irs t O ffice r F re d e rick P itcher m command of a W
covet editions. The accom
estern jet
panying text, combining a bi lef
introductoiy essaywithcandid
quotes from the women them
selves, was w ritten by Harold
McDougall, a student at Vale
Law School and magna cum
laude gradute of H arvard.
The two men spent some
tim e
last
summer going
around Harlem, taking pic
tures, asking questions, hold
ing smalldiscussion sessions.
"B oth of us learned a hell of
a
lo t,”
comments
M r.
M a n y new types of employment are opening up fo r B I a c k s
McDougall.
The questions
through Equal Opportunity programs. T h r o u g h onesuchpro-
they asked — about identity,
mon- Zmm
* “ h “ “ a iriin « comPan» s has become com
love, ch ild ie n , strength, re
mon. common, that is, in the availability of jobs, not in the tvoe
spect, beauty — brought forth
of work done or the unique advantages offered
many responses they fou.id
of ferwStbiaffk 7 r |Fr<K!erKk PitChCr ° f Western A lr,ln « « one
"enlightening. Indeed, libera
few blacks who command their own jets. As s u c h he five
ting” and that "made us
a maximum of fo rty hour, per month in Western’ s " W o ’r H ” of
change our
thinking dras
fo rty -s ix states. Canada and Mexico.
tic a lly .”
.stewan.less Janice D arling also flie s in this are , but that is
I he women featured in Hig
gins’ photographs range from
selves 7 7 ,
"
CertaU1 numbe‘ o ffre e F*5* 5 for ther -
young m ilita n ts to the unde
selves and their immediate fam ily during a v e .r. V a - a i i
feated old women of the South,
possibilities fo r them are almost unlimited.
but a ll, he feels, "a re of a
new breed - Black Breed.”
The term signifies to him that
each women
- " la c i a l !’ ; ;.le
in being black ind hum in we
In neing a woman.”
Higgins tried to e tc his
subject in candid situ..:
,
believing that's the test w iv
to find "W fiat's really th e re ."
He thinks there is a great
m arket fo r "th e kind of con-
Black pilot flies
with Western
I
positive
neede '
fre i that fm not
m o ie , I leel , les
i l e . ue, hopeless, alone.
woman lik e s lo (eel alone.”
statement.'
at tire Corco: an Ca
A rt in Washington, L
the George Washmgtoi larve
Museum at Tuskegee.
In his introduction to "B lue
(L ie ,
V
f