Coreen Simpson

Coreen Simpson (born February 18, 1942) is a noted African-American photographer and jewelry designer, whose work has an African-American theme. She was born and resides in New York City.

Simpson's photographic career began as a fashion photographer for the Village Voice and the Amsterdam News in the early 1980s, and covered many African-American cultural and political events in the mid-1980s. She is also noted for her studies of Harlem nightlife. Her work's ability to present a wide variety of subjects with "depth of character and dignity" has been compared to that of Diane Arbus and Weegee.^[1]

The Black Cameo

In addition to her photography, Simpson also designed jewelry.^[2] Her most notable jewelry collection is known as The Black Cameo (1990). The collection reintroduces the ancient tradition of cameos, but features portraits of black women. The portraits show the great variety of features of black women. Simpson’s goal was that every black women would be able to identify with the portraits within her cameo jewelry.^[3]The success of The Black Cameo lead Simpson’s jewelry clients for her designs to include Ruby Dee, and Oprah Winfrey.^[4]

Simpson and Avon Products entered a joint venture in 1993 and created the Coreen Simpson Regal Beauty Collection, a budget line of designs which included a moderately-priced African American cameo.^[5]

External links

• Coreen Simpson official site

Selected exhibitions

• The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, 2001
• Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY, 2001, 1998
• Anacostia Museum/Smithsonian, Washington, DC, 2000
• Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NY, 1999
• Musée de la Photographie, Brussels, Belgium, 1998
• International Center of Photography, New York, NY, 1998

Education

• Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY;
• Parsons School of Design, New York, NY

Awards

• Light Work Residency, 1987
• Nueva Luz, Volume 1#2
• The Mary McLeod Bethune Award from the National Council of Negro Women, 1994
• The Madame C.J. Walker Award, 2000
• The National Council of Negro Women "Legend's Award", 2006

References

Bibliography

• Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Black Women Photographers, Writers & Readers, 1993
• "Coreen Simpson", Black Women in America, MacMillan, 1999

Footnotes

1. Black Women in America, p. 250.
2. "Coreen Simpson". The Black Cameo Collection. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
3. "Style Makers; Coreen Simpson, Cameo Designer". The New York Times: A42. February 25, 1990.
4. "Museum Trunk Show Event". Studio Museum Harlem. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
5. Wilkinson, Deborrah (July 1996). "Afrocentric Marketing: Not Just a Niche". Black Enterprise: 76.