With his meditative black-and-white project Languor, a series of photographs taken in New York’s Central Park, Donavon Smallwood envisions Black tranquility at the center of the urban landscape.
Languor is an ode to NYC’s Central Park. With the pandemic at hand and the history of Seneca Village in mind, Smallwood created photographs of tentative comfort and appreciation as an examination of nature, home, tranquility, and escape.
“I didn’t know any of them, but I began asking them if we could meet so I could photograph them just being themselves, relaxing in nature. Most people agreed to do it and, when we found a location, I’d ask them to sit naturally for about five or 10 minutes. The mood I was after came quite easily.”D.S
