Jules T. Allen

Jules T. Allen
Jules Allen (born September 13, 1947) is an American photographer, author, and educator. He is known for his photographs of African-American culture. He is an emeritus professor of Queensborough Community College, City University of New York, where he has taught for two decades in the art and photography department.
Biography
Jules T. Allen was born in San Francisco, California. He studied at San Francisco State University (BFA, MS degree), under photographer Jack Welpott. He moved to New York City in 1978. He continued his studies at Hunter College (MFA degree).
He shares the belief of photographer Diane Arbus, who states, “the more specific a thing is, the more general.” The artist, Danny Dawson has said, "Allen has a “keen eye for the obvious” in his lifelong work evocative of the contemporary black experience. His images place subjects drawn from the richness of black life within universal paradigms. They have inspired collaborations with journalists, visual artists, musicians, playwrights, poets, and filmmakers.
Allen also used his photographs to promote segregation and the idea that blacks and whites were truly equal. Allen comments on his collection depicting boxers in Gleason Gym by saying, “whatever racism existed, it did not seem to have much effect on the fighters in the room. It was a question of character. It was a place where people seemed to be more equal”. Allen used the boxing ring and the sport itself to display the equality between blacks and whites as they were literally on even ground and the only difference between the two was the character of each fighter. It wasn’t a question of who was what race and who had more privilege, it was about the heart and drive of each of the fighters in the ring.Allen's books include Hats and HatNots, Black Bodies and 2011 publication on boxing life in New York City's Gleason's Gym, Double Up: Photographs by Jules Allen, and the 2013 publication of "In Your Own Sweet Way," a personal and intimate collection of photographic conversations across the continent of Africa. Exhibited in the U.S. and abroad, as shown in the Permanent Museum Collections & Exhibition listing below, he is the recipient of grants and awards. His photographs are housed in museum collections worldwide. His commercial and corporate work has been seen on covers of national publications such as Business Week, Forbes and Black Enterprise magazines as well as within the Annual Reports of corporate boards and clients within the music industry.
Marching Bands
Allen's most prominent project, The Black Marching Band, depicts the Morgan State University marching band. In this project, Allen uses the marching band to challenge the preconceived ideas of marching bands at the time. Allen also believed the Morgan State band specifically was providing a much more original, almost tribal African American sound. He says, “What I call now the pulse and beat of what they were doing. It all seemed so particular to an African-American sensibility". Allen believed that the marching band gave a very expressive and musical way to express unity and cooperation within the African American community. Allen published the book Marching Bands (2016, City University of New York) on the subject.
Works
Permanent collections
New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut
Brooklyn Museum, New York City, New York
National Museum of American Art (now Smithsonian American Art Museum), Washington, D.C.
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City, New York
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York City, New York
Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City, New York
Queensborough Community College, New York City, New York
Dreyfus Fund, New York City, New York
Overholland Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Exhibitions
A Little More Towards the Light, Solo Exhibition, Shadow Image Gallery, New York, NY, 1989
Photography and the Culture Climate, Solo Exhibition, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1989
Black USA, Group Exhibition, Overhollander Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1990
The Knife, Group Exhibition, Agnes B. Gallery, Paris France, 1990
Contemporary Urban Images, Group Exhibition Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, 1990
Mean Streets, Group Exhibition Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 1991
On the Edge, Group Exhibition, Henry Street Settlement House, New York, NY, 1991
Two Photographers, Group Exhibition, Geneva, Switzerland, 1991
Home, Group Exhibition, De Meervaart Cultural Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1991
Fighting Spirit, Solo Exhibition, Delta Axis Arts Center, Memphis, TN, 1992
Songs of My People, Group Exhibition, Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C., Museum of the City of New York, NY, 1992
Public Photographs, Solo Exhibition, 60 Bus Shelters Throughout Harlem], NY, Public Art Fund, New York, NY, 1992
Hats and Hat Nots, Solo Exhibition, QCC Art Gallery, CUNY, Bayside, Queens, NY, 1993
In the Ring, Solo Exhibition, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island, NY, 1993
Our Town, Group Exhibition, Burden Gallery, New York, NY, 1993
Gesture and Pose, Group Exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 1994
Hats and Hat Nots, Solo Exhibition, Drew University, New Jersey, 1995
Million Man March, Group Exhibition, Del Pryor Galleries, Detroit, MI, 1997
Domestic Abuse Awareness Project, Group Exhibition & Auction, Kent Gallery, New York, NY, 1997
Icon to Narrative: Harlem, Group Exhibition, IRADAC Center, New York, NY, 1998
Living for the City, Group Traveling Exhibition, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY, 1997
Americanos: Latino Life in the United States, Group Exhibition, and Museum of the City of New York, NY, 1999
Black New Yorkers/ Black New York, Group Exhibition, Schomburg Center, New York, NY, 1999
Harlem, Group Exhibition, Leica Gallery, New York, NY, 2000
Committed to the Image, Group Exhibition, Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, NY, 2001
Life of the City, Group Exhibition, Permanent Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 2002
Americanos, Group Exhibition, Smithsonian Institution, shown in 26 cities; Washington DC, New York, Chicago, San Antonio, Houston, Austin, Los Angeles, Omaha, St. Petersburg, Tucson, Milwaukee, Boston, Charlotte, 2002
African American Masters, American Museum of Natural History, Traveling Exhibition, 2004
Imagines Havana, Group Exhibition of Latin, Caribbean and U.S. photographers, Santiago/ Havana, Cuba, co-sponsored by Fototeca, Royal Nederland's Embassy and The Washington Post, 2004
Photographs: Jules Allen, Solo Exhibition, Institute of African Affairs, NY University, New York, NY, 2006
Marching Bands Exhibit, Solo Exhibition, The Jazz Gallery, New York, NY, 2006
Propositions on the Permanent Collection, Group Exhibition, Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY, 2009
Leica Gallery, "Double Up" Solo Exhibition, New York, NY, November 16, 2012 through January 5, 2013
Awards and honors
Award, CAPS, Photography, New York, NY, 1980
Photography Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY, 1985
Grant, Light Work, Syracuse, NY, 1986
Photography Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts, 1991
Award, New York Council of the Arts, & Public Art Fund Presentation; “60 Bus Stop Shelters,” City College of New York, NY, 1992
Research & Photography Grant Funding, City University of New York, NY, New York Foundation for the Arts, NY, 1994–99; 2001
Imagines Havana, Documentary Photography Panel, Seminar for Latin, Caribbean and US photographers; co-sponsored by The Washington Post and Fototeca, 2003
Research & Photography Grant Funding, CETL Grants & Awards City University of New York, NY, 2003
Research & Photography Grant Funding, CETL Grants & Awards City University of New York, NY, 2004–2009
Southeast Queens Camera Club, Jamaica, New York, Lecture April 17, 2012
Excellence in Faculty Scholarship Award, Queensborough Community College, April 20, 2012
References
External links
Jules Allen Photography
Smithsonian American Art Museum, African American Masters
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery
Hats and HatNots
Black Bodies
"Double Up: Photographs by Jules Allen"
1947 births
American contemporary artists
American photographers
African-American photographers
Living people
Artists from San Francisco
City University of New York faculty
Queensborough Community College faculty
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American writers
20th-century African-American artists