Nona Faustine on Race, Monuments, and the Body in Photography

Nona Faustine (New York, 1977) is a photographer whose work addresses the erasure of Black history in American monuments and public memory. Her series 'White Shoes' (2015) features self-portraits nude at sites of slavery in New York, using her body as a temporary monument. In 'My Country' (2016), she examines omissions in iconic monuments like the Statue of Liberty, which she notes was originally gifted by France to commemorate the end of slavery and modeled after a Black woman. Faustine's work gained renewed attention when Socrates Sculpture Park in New York exhibited 'My Country' during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. In an interview, she discusses the relationship between her body and the history of slavery, the symbolism of white shoes as representing white patriarchy and unattainable beauty standards, and the need to contextualize rather than remove contested monuments. She cites influences including Toni Morrison, Gordon Parks, Charles White, and Simone Leigh. Faustine believes the current focus on Black artists is not a passing trend but requires sustained funding to support emerging artists.