Our Ancestor's Somber Story: Mary Parker and Caela Cowan

Dawoud Bey, American, born 1953 

“Mary Parker and Caela Cowen”, 2012 

Pigmented inkjet print 

Included in Dawoud Bey’s “Birmingham Project” series, “Mary Parker and Caela Cowen” is a part of Bey’s creative commemoration to the 55th anniversary of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and the four little girls and two boys who lost their lives in the tragedy. In the right panel, Caela Cowen represents one of the little girls at the time of the bombing, and on the left, Mary Parker represents one of the victims in the present day if they had lived. Cowen’s victim role gives the piece an eerie absence that juxtaposes Parker’s presence, working together to create an image of great loss. 

Purchased with funds from The Friends of Photography, 2016.241