Compositions of Black Joy

@cobj-phl.bsky.social

285 Followers 321 Following

Compositions of Black Joy is a book by street photographer and writer Tieshka K. Smith. COBJ features seven years of Smith's photos of the Philadelphia Juneteenth Festival in Germantown. compositionsofblackjoy.com tieshkasmith.com #unscriptedmoments

A vertical photograph titled "The Magic of Bubbles" featuring Sir Michael, the "Earl of Science and Magic," at the Juneteenth Festival. An older Black man with a gray beard, he wears a whimsical outfit: a tiger-print top hat, orange shirt, bowtie, orange suspenders, and tiger-print pants. He holds two green wands that have created a massive, shimmering iridescent bubble stretching across the frame. In the background, a colorful inflatable bounce house and a historic stone house are visible under a bright sky.

A photograph titled "Guiding The Next Generation" showing Gwen Ragsdale of the Lest We Forget Museum of Slavery at an outdoor festival. Ragsdale, an older Black woman with glasses and a patterned orange shirt, leans over a table to speak with a young girl. On the table are historical artifacts and a "Please Do Not Touch" sign. Two women in hijabs stand nearby, observing the educational exchange. The setting is a brick-paved area in front of a stone building with a "Historic Germantown" banner in the background.