orn in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Earlie Hudnall Jr. has lived for years in Houston, Texas. He began photographing while in the U.S. Marine Corps in the 1960s and finds inspiration in the beauty and pride in everyday life in African American communities in the South.
Gwen Everett African American Masters: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, D.C. and New York: Smithsonian American Art Museum in
The compelling images by Earlie Hudnall, Jr. (b. 1946, Hattiesburg, Mississippii) will be featured this Spring, in his second solo exhibition at PDNB Gallery. Hudnall, who is one of the most notable African American photographers living today, has extensively documented the African American neighborhoods in Houston, Texas.
In 1968, after serving as a Marine in Vietnam, he enrolled at Texas Southern University, where he studied art under the direction of John Biggers, who became a great friend and mentor. During his time at TSU, he was hired to be a photographer for the Model Cities Program, part of Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty initiative. This project introduced him to the various communities of Houston such as the Fourth Ward, Fifth Ward, Trinity Garden and the Hispanic neighborhoods.
©Earlie Hudna...