Black History Month: Moneta Sleet Jr.
Gift of Moneta Sleet Jr. - Take My Picture, Mister - Boy in Striped Shirt - Courtesey of © Saint Louis Art Museum
Moneta Sleet Jr. (b. 1926) was a Pulitzer Prize winning press photographer best known for his work with Ebony magazine. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography for his image of widowed Coretta Scott King attending her late husband Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral. Sleet was the first African American man to win a Pulitzer and the first African American to win the award in the field of journalism. His work is historically significant as Sleet was one of few photographers to witness and capture some the most historically important moments of the civil rights movement, including the march from Selma to Montgomery and Dr. King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. Sleet continually worked at his craft until his death in 1996 due to cancer. His career spanned four decades from 1955-1996.
The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) chronicled the works of Sleet in a solo exhibition titled, My Point of View: Photographs by Moneta Sleet Jr. which exhibited in 1993. Selected by Sleet himself, the exhibition highlights Moneta’s tenure and works spanning his career. Images of Dr. King and other prominent civil rights figures can be seen throughout the exhibit, with more playful and light-hearted images such as the Take My Picture, Sir series included. Sleet’s work outlives the civil rights movement and his time at Ebony by capturing universal human emotions and events that will forever remain relevant.
You can view more of Sleet’s work on SLAM’s website here.
