March 24, 2025
Photographer Nona Faustine, Who Captured The Perseverance Of Black Women, Dies At 48
Faustine died just one year after her first solo exhibition.
Renowned photographer Nona Faustine, known for her powerful work capturing the resilience of Black women throughout history, has died. She was 48.
Faustine’s cause of death was not revealed, ARTnews reports. The Brooklyn Museum, where Faustine’s works were exhibited last year, released a statement confirming her death.
“We are saddened by the death of Brooklyn-born artist Nona Faustine,” the museum captioned an Instagram post. “Her vulnerable and commanding work urges us to think critically about the hidden, often traumatic histories of the places we call home.”
Her 2024 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum marked her first solo show and featured the full installation of her acclaimed photographic series, White Shoes. Comprised of over 40 self-portraits, the series captured Faustine standing at historic sites across New York City—from Harlem and Wall Street to Prospect Park—that held legacies of enslavement.
Often nude, partially covered, or holding symbolic props, she wears a simple yet poignant pair of white pumps, standing atop land that holds the memories and the remains of Black and Indigenous ancestors, according to the Brooklyn Museum. Faustine gained recognition for her powerful self-portraits, using her body as a living archive of both exploitation and resilience throughout history.
In one striking image from White Shoes, Faustine stands at 74 Wall Street, a historic site where enslaved people were once auctioned.
“The true lives of Black women in the United States, if not in the world, are not seen,” Faustine told photographer Carla J. Williams in a 2024 issue of BOMB magazine. “I wanted to show our lives and who we are. We are very special. Not just because of our suffering but because of our beauty and strength. The reinvention and the creativity that oozes out. The bravery.”
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1977, the Crown Heights native grew up surrounded by photography. She credited her father and uncle, both avid photography enthusiasts, for sparking her passion in the medium. She spent much of her childhood looking through her family’s photo albums.
Faustine pursued her love for photography at the School of Visual Arts, earning her degree in 1997. Most recently, she completed a fellowship with the American Academy in Rome, where she was joined by her daughter, Queen.
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