Miranda Barnes & Doreen St. Félix: ‘Social Season’ [Talk & signing]

Join us for a special conversation between artist Miranda Barnes and writer Doreen St. Félix at picturehouse + thesmalldarkroom, NYC, to celebrate the release of Barnes' debut book Social Season.

Miranda Barnes is a photo-based artist born in Brooklyn, NY. Her practice borrows from vernacular photography and a fine art tradition of documenting everyday scenes of families and friends, often in communion and celebration. She has photographed across the United States, both for assignments and artistic explorations. Barnes is currently working on a long-form project examining community gatherings and subcultures with an emphasis on gender, style, and coming of age. Her work has been featured in Architectural Digest, T Magazine, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and The Financial Times.

Doreen St. Félix is a writer and critic. Since 2017, she has been a staff writer at The New Yorker. She has lectured at Yale University, Columbia University, Loyola Marymount University and others. She is a recipient of the National Magazine Award for Criticism.

Free to attend.

Tuesday 10 March 
18:00

picturehouse + thesmalldarkroom
437 West 16th Street
Third Floor
New York, NY 10011
United States

About Social Season

This debut book by Brooklyn-based photographer Miranda Barnes explores the rich history of Black cotillions in the US through an immersive collection of photographs made at debutante balls in Detroit between 2022 and 2025.

Sensitive portraits of debutantes with their elders and scenes of couples practicing their steps and dancing in formation are interleaved with studies of the distinctive material world of the cotillion: opulent corsages, taffeta ball gowns, morning suits, and tiaras. The resulting sequence harks back to bygone times and dreamworlds of childhood and youth, yet is also grounded firmly and emotively in the present, as young people look with anticipation towards their future. Social Season offers a glimpse of a unique tradition and introduces an exceptional documentarian of Black communities and subcultures in today’s United States.

Can't make it? Order a copy here.