OUTCRY
Works from Whitney Bradshaw
January 12 – March 16, 2023
Artist reception: Friday, January 13th, 5-7pm
Whitney Bradshaw launched her OUTCRY project on the night of the Women’s March in 2018, the series has grown to more than four hundred portraits of womxn from all walks of life who have chosen to take a stand against a culture that too often dismisses womxn’s voices. Drawing from her background in social work, the Chicago-based artist invites groups of womxn who are not previously acquainted with each other into her studio for “scream sessions,” where they can express emotions—ranging from rage to sorrow to laughter—in a brave and supportive environment designed to cultivate a spirit of feminist solidarity across different life experiences. The resulting photographic portraits challenge expectations around how womxn—and in particular, women’s anger—are portrayed in portraiture and mainstream culture. Together the intimate representations of womxn’s power and expression that Bradshaw captures, become a monumental act of collective resistance. 199 of Bradshaw’s portraits will be on view at PCNW for the first exhibition of OUTCRY in the Pacific Northwest.
On Friday, January 13th Whitney Bradshaw will be leading one of her empowering OUTCRY scream sessions at Photographic Center Northwest!
The OUTCRY scream session will be held from 2-4pm on Friday, January 13 at Photographic Center Northwest (currently wait-list only). The session will begin promptly at 2pm with introductions and an overview of the project by the artist. From there Bradshaw will lead the group through a series of practice screams before everyone is invited to express themselves in front of the camera individually. Each participant will have the choice to scream on their own or with the support of the group screaming along with them. After each participant has had one turn in front of the camera, they will have the opportunity to do it a second and if there is a time, a third round so they can really own it! The sessions are powerful, therapeutic, and fun! The resulting portraits will be printed and included in future iterations of OUTCRY.
Whitney Bradshaw (American, b. 1969) is a Chicago-based artist, activist, educator, curator, and former social worker. She is currently an Artist-in-Residence with the Chicago Public Schools Art Department piloting a new arts program for junior and senior high school students called RE:ALIZE. She was the chair of the visual art conservatory at the Chicago High School for the Arts for ten years, and an adjunct professor of photography at Columbia College Chicago for thirteen. Bradshaw was also the curator for the renowned LaSalle Bank Photography Collection and later the Bank of America Collection. Her photographs have been widely exhibited across the United States and in Zurich.