Carrie Mae Weems.

There are many photographers who tell stories with their work. There are artists (or specific work) you can tell they were thinking something deep, but sometimes it's a little too deep. I assume I'm not profound enough, or maybe not pretentious enough. Sometimes it just has to do with not relating at all. Then sometimes there is an avenue there for my imagination to figure it out.

I have found in researching Carrie Mae Weems' art a profound and universal truth found in her work. While she typically uses black subjects, it is meant to represent all ethnicities. 

One self portrait entitled "I looked and looked to see what terrified you" showed her wearing a dress and beads around her neck, looking into a handheld mirror. Her hand is up to her hair. Without the title, it was simply a nice black and white print.  What is so moving about this particular shot is it's complexity.  At face value, it is not "overly" racial. By that, I mean it's not screaming in your face or racially pointing fingers at anyone in particular. At the same time, you see a beautiful woman decked out in an African-style dress, who is obviously very proud of her heritage and who she is. Even as she is dressed up, there is not an air of higher/lower class, nor a feeling that she may be going anywhere, necessarily. She is a woman, she is African American. She is a human being. 

This portrait naturally brings out in us our own conclusions. What is it about any black person, (or Asian, Mexican, or any other nationality, for that matter) that make anyone nervous? She is proving that she and her skin alone are not terrifying. So it is up to us, the viewer, to ask ourselves what it is exactly. The answer you come up with will not just affect how you feel about the portrait but truly about your own thoughts and opinions, also.