aperture issue
Guest edited by Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, this award-winning 2016 issue of Aperture magazine—the first of its kind for Aperture—focuses on the way in which pictures function to measure human life.
The Aperture Issue sparked a national conversation on the role of photography in constructions of citizenship, race, and justice, and catalyzed institutional change at Aperture, including books published as a direct result of the issue and the introduction of new regular contributors to Aperture’s future issues.
The issue features a range of artistic contributions and voices across disciplines including, Jennifer Blessing, Maurice Berger, Dawoud Bey, Teju Cole, Ava DuVernay, Awol Erizku, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Thelma Golden, Katori Hall, Margo Jefferson, Deana Lawson, Wynton Marsalis, Alicia Hall Moran, Jason Moran, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Nell Irvin Painter, Leigh Raiford, Jamel Shabazz, Lorna Simpson, Salamishah Tillet, Carrie Mae Weems, Deborah Willis, and Bradford Young.
Coinciding with the issue, students in Lewis’ Harvard University class, Vision & Justice: The Art of Citizenship, contributed online essays on the relationship between images of social unrest and landmark Supreme Court decisions.
“Accessible, conversational and bold”
“Just turning the pages conjured a kind of poetry.”
2017 infinity Award
The International Center of Photography’s Infinity Awards honor outstanding achievements in photography and visual arts. For their work on the “Vision & Justice” issue of Aperture, guest editor Sarah Elizabeth Lewis and editor Michael Famighetti received the 2017 Infinity Award for excellence in critical writing and research.