A Beautiful Ghetto

Devin Allen

Devin Allen asks us to see beyond the violence and poverty that all too often defines the “ghetto.”

On April 18, 2015, the city of Baltimore erupted in mass protests in response to the brutal murder of Freddie Gray by police. Devin Allen was there, and his iconic photos of the Baltimore uprising became a viral sensation.

In these stunning photographs, Allen documents the uprising as he strives to capture the life of his city and the people who live there. Each photo reveals the personality, beauty, and spirit of Baltimore and its people, as his camera complicates popular ideas about the “ghetto.”

Allen’s camera finds hope and beauty doing battle against a system that sows desperation and fear, and above all—resistance—to the unrelenting pressures of racism and poverty in a 21st century American city.

Artist Bios

Devin Allen

Devin Allen is a self-taught artist who gained national attention when his photograph of the Baltimore Uprising was published on the cover of TIME in May 2015. A native of Baltimore, Devin achieved a rare feat as only the third amateur photographer TIME selected to feature on its cover.

In 2017, he was named the first fellow of the Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award as a debut author for his book, A Beautiful Ghetto (Haymarket Books).

Devin was chosen to serve as a 2020 Ambassador for Leica Camera AG; and following the untimely deaths of George Floyd, Tony McDade, and Breonna Taylor, TIME once again acknowledged and honored Devin’s artistry by selecting one of his images from a Black Trans Lives Matter protest to grace the cover of their June 2020 issue.

Devin’s powerful imagery of Black life has been featured in New York Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Aperture.

His photography is also featured in permanent collections at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, the Jule Collins Smith Museum, and The Studio Museum in Harlem.

His new book—No Justice, No Peace: From the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter—was released in October 2022.

Organizations

Leica Camera

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