Lewis Watts Explained

Lewis Watts
Birth Place:	Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
Education:	University of California, Berkeley
Occupation:	Photographer, archivist curator, author, educator

Lewis Watts (born 1946)^[1] is an American photographer, archivist curator, art historian, author, lecturer, and educator. He is a Professor Emeritus of Art at the University of California, Santa Cruz (U.C. Santa Cruz).

Career

Lewis Watts was born in 1946 in Little Rock, Arkansas.^[2] He has a BA degree in political science, as well as a MA degree in photography and design from University of California, Berkeley (U.C. Berkeley).^[3] He had taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz and the University of California, Berkeley, as well as other institutions for over 40 years.

His work is inspired by his historical and contemporary interests and representation of people in the African diaspora.

Watts work has been exhibited at and has collections at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Cité de la Musique (Paris, France), the Ogden Museum of Southern Art (New Orleans, Louisiana), the Oakland Museum of California, the Neuberger Museum of Art (Purchase, New York), the Amistad Center for Art and Culture (Hartford, Connecticut), Light Work (Syracuse, New York).^{[4] [5]}

Exhibitions

• 2017 – Mining the Archive, Rena Bransten Gallery, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, California
• 2017 – Work from the Collection, Lewis Watts, Amistad Center of Art and Culture, Hartford, Connecticut
• 2015–2017 – New Orleans, Photographs by Lewis Watts, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California
• 2016 – FRANCAIS, Photographs by Lewis Watts, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
• 1999 – Lifework Exhibit, Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, California
• 1999 – Photography of Lewis Watts, Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts
• 1999 – Lewis Watts, South to West Oakland, Robert B. Menschel Photography Gallery, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York
• 1998–1999 – Urban Foot Prints: The Photography of Lewis Watts, Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California

Publications

• Book: Pepin Silva. Elizabeth. Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era. Watts. Lewis. On The Water Front. 2017. 9780998670409. ^[6]
• Book: Watts. Lewis. New Orleans Suite: Music and Culture in Transition. Porter. Eric. University of California Press. 2013. 9780520273870. Berkeley, California.

Filmography

• 2016 – Independent Lens (TV series, documentary advisor for 1 episode)
• 2015 – Dogtown Redemption (Documentary) (advisor)
• 2014 – Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People (Documentary)
• 1999 – Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco (advisor)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Watts, Lewis, 1946-. Virtual International Authority File database (VIAF).
2. Web site: Watts, Lewis. 2021-10-31. SFMOMA. en-US.
3. Web site: September 16, 2000. Lewis Watts: Photographs. 2021-10-31. tfaoi.com. Neuberger Museum of Art.
4. Web site: Lewis Watts. October 24, 2019. Light Work. en-US.
5. Web site: Lewis Watts. October 24, 2019. www.spenational.org.
6. Web site: Rothmann. John. 2021-08-06. Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era. 2021-10-31. KGO-AM. en-US.