The West Baltimore photographer whose iconic image of the Freddie Gray unrest made the cover of "Time" magazine is getting his own solo show.
"Devin Allen: Awakenings, In a New Light" will debut on July 10 and will run through Dec. 7 at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture.
When his black and white shot of a man running down the street in front of a line of baton-wielding Baltimore police officers ran in "Time's" May 11 issue, the twentysomething street photographer became just the third amateur image-maker to see his work on the magazine's cover.
The photos, some of which will be blown up to more than 20 feet wide, show both the struggle and the humanity of the unrest from the viewpoints of police officers and protestors, according to the museum's news release.
"Devin, through his poetic and compelling photographs, reveals the complexity of those days with the perspective of someone who grew up in West Baltimore," Skipp Sanders, the executive director of the Lewis Museum, says in the release.
"His part in helping to define the image of our city gives us a more holistic understanding of the protests. The act of self-defining is important in an era where practices like racial profiling impose images upon African Americans and threaten to define their identity for them."
The exhibit also will inaugurate a new community space inside the museum called Lewis Now, which will exhibit documents and objects related to issues and stories that are relevant to current times.
The public will be admitted free to the new space, which is located on the museum's ground floor.
mary.mccauley@baltsun.com