Photographer, activist to bring iconic rock imagery to WMU
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Leni Sinclair, Detroit-based photographer, political activist since the 1960s and the Kresge Foundation’s Eminent Artist of 2016, will make a special appearance at Western Michigan University Thursday, March 24.
Speaking from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Lee Honors College lounge, Sinclair will showcase her photography and speak about her experiences as a photographer starting in an era marked by political change and artistic expression. The event is open to the public without charge.
Leni Sinclair
After fleeing from her native East Germany at 18, Sinclair made her way to Detroit where she founded the Detroit Artists Workshop and positioned herself to document the musical, political and cultural revolution unfolding in the early 1960s. Her photography over the years focused on such jazz, blues, rock and reggae legends as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bob Marley, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Iggy and the Stooges and Prince.
"Leni’s life and photography chart the 'culture wars' that divided the nation in the late '60s and early '70s while capturing those artists whose music continues to serve as inspiration in defense of what she calls 'our precious democracy,'" says Scott Friesner, Lee Honors College advisor and a longtime friend of Sinclair's.
Her role was always more than that of someone simply recording the images of history. She was deeply involved in the world she captured, working with her then-husband John Sinclair, she helped manage and promote the rock band MC5, with her photography serving as the cover for the group's famous first release "Kick Out the Jams."
She and John Sinclair founded the White Panther Party in 1968, and later the Rainbow People's Party, with Leni Sinclair serving as the Minister of Education. With the assistance of John Lennon, Yoko Ono and others, in 1971 she staged the "Ten for Two" freedom rally for her then imprisoned husband.
Sinclair's iconic photos have appeared in countless newspapers, magazines, books, and LP and CD covers. Her photography has been featured at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, and compiled in a book published in 2012 titled "Detroit Rocks." During 2014-15, the Lee Honors College staged a year-long exhibition of her work. Archives of her activities, titled the "John and Leni Sinclair Papers," are housed in the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan.
Earlier this year, the Kresge Foundation named her the Kresge Eminent Artist of 2016, an accolade designed to note her contributions to her art form, the cultural community and residents of the city of Detroit. The designation comes with a $50,000 prize; she is only the eighth artist to be so honored.
"Leni Sinclair both contributed to the social changes of the 1960s and '70s and documented the movement’s fleeting moments for posterity," said Kresge Foundation President and CEO Rip Rapson in describing the foundation's choice. "Her photos capture the enormously deep and often raw emotional energies of the time—from love-ins to festivals, from intimate performances to protests...Through her ceaselessly curious and probing lens, Leni Sinclair has built a riveting and expansive body of work that enables us to understand those times—particularly from a Detroit perspective—at a more profound and multifaceted level."
For more news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.