Bikers Take a Break. Sunday Afternoon in Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland, September 1973, from the series Southern Roads/​City Pavements

Roland L. Freeman, Bikers Take a Break. Sunday Afternoon in Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland, September 1973, from the series Southern Roads/City Pavements, 1973, printed 1982, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of George H. Dalsheimer, 1991.80.6, © 1973, Roland L. Freeman
Copied Roland L. Freeman, Bikers Take a Break. Sunday Afternoon in Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland, September 1973, from the series Southern Roads/City Pavements, 1973, printed 1982, gelatin silver print, sheet: 11 x 13 7⁄8 in. (28.1 x 35.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of George H. Dalsheimer, 1991.80.6, © 1973, Roland L. Freeman

Artwork Details

Title
Bikers Take a Break. Sunday Afternoon in Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland, September 1973, from the series Southern Roads/​City Pavements
Artist
Date
1973, printed 1982
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 11 x 13 7⁄8 in. (28.1 x 35.2 cm.)
Copyright
© 1973, Roland L. Freeman
Credit Line
Gift of George H. Dalsheimer
Mediums Description
gelatin silver print
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group — male
  • African American
  • Cityscape — Maryland — Baltimore
  • Architecture — vehicle — motorcycle
  • Landscape — park — Druid Hill Park
Object Number
1991.80.6
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1991.80.6

Artwork Description

A back story is always featured in Freeman’s photographs, providing an implicit chronicle that links the people in his pictures with a larger narrative. Bikers Take a Break is not only an image of hip young men showing off lean bodies, it is also a reminiscence of black Baltimoreans coming together on Sunday afternoons for the beating of the drums, an informal gathering that serves as a reminder of a time in history when drumming was banned by slave owners because it kept alive the legacy of African culture.


African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012