Street Champion

Earlie Hudnall, Jr., Street Champion, 1986, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1994.23.5, © 1986, Earlie Hudnall, Jr.
Copied Earlie Hudnall, Jr., Street Champion, 1986, gelatin silver print, sheet: 16 x 19 7⁄8 in. (40.7 x 50.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1994.23.5, © 1986, Earlie Hudnall, Jr.

Artwork Details

Title
Street Champion
Artist
Date
1986
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 16 x 19 7⁄8 in. (40.7 x 50.4 cm.)
Copyright
© 1986, Earlie Hudnall, Jr.
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums Description
gelatin silver print
Classifications
Subjects
  • Cityscape — street
  • Occupation — domestic — laundry
  • Children
  • African American
  • Recreation — sport and play — boxing
  • Recreation — sport and play — baseball
  • Architecture Exterior — detail — porch
  • Architecture Exterior — domestic — house
Object Number
1994.23.5
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1994.23.5

Artwork Description

Hudnall used juxtaposition and subtle contrast to create meaning in his pictures. In Street Champion a boy brandishing boxing gloves, a girl holding a baseball bat, and their friends mug for the photographer against a backdrop of drying laundry and carpeting. The brick street and crumbling porch supports framed by modern multi-storied buildings signal that they live in an aging residential pocket within an urban environment. But their smiling faces reveal that they are unconcerned about the impact of encroaching development on their carefree lives.


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