Within Cathy Waegner’s “Performing Postmodernist Passing,” I am struck by the ways in which Nikki S. Lee’s works use the impersonation of race as a project of “denigrating the Other.” (Waegner, 223) Lee gains access to various communities in order to document them and to give viewers an intimate look at the lives of other people. Within her “Hip-Hop Project,” Lee’s photos allow a “voyeuristic glimpse” into the world of hip hop. (Waegner, 224) In doing so, Lee uses her own body as a canvas inscribed with the iconography of the culture and in turn presents a revealing performance of race, identity and society. At once, she captures the experience and lives it as an active participant. Throughout the description of the details of this project, I return to the idea of authenticity. The willingness of the subjects, as well as the staged nature of the photographs seem to disrupt the documentary nature of the works and raise the question of how we define authenticity. While Waegner refers to this as the embodiment of “‘willed authenticity,’” I wonder how the subjects’ cognizance of the project determines what is revealed. (Waegner, 224) As Lee transforms her own body and lifestyle to experience and document various factions of society, she calls into question the static categories of identity. Authenticity—by no means a static term or concept—has been the topic of many of our discussions as we consider the medium of photography as a political and subjective tool, and Lee’s work seems to complicate the idea of authenticity by making race, identification and agency fluid terms as well.

Waegner: Citing various examples (like Nikki S. Lee or R. Kelly’s Thoia Thoing), Waegner highlights the “growing trend” toward yellowface/blackface impersonation. (Waegner, 223)

Pinder: By discussing the works of Lorraine O’Grady and the public perception of multiethnic icons like Tiger Woods, Pinder discusses biraciality in the modern world and the polyptych nature of our culture.