Dancehall Queens: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

There is a woman facing the proper right side of the image. Her legs are bent, her body is leaning back, and her arms are bent and out to the sides with her fingers spread out. She is wearing a low-cut red halter dress that ends above her knees. She is wearing bracelets on both of her arms. Her hair is blonde and curly and is partially pulled back. She also has sunglasses on top of her head. There is a woman in the background with short blonde hair. She is hunched forward with her knees bent and her hands on her thighs. She is wearing a sleeveless yellow top, yellow shorts, a white scarf, and earrings.

Each of the images has a white border around it. The borders are thinner on the tops and bottoms and thicker on the sides. The border for 2015.132.162.1 is slightly thicker because the image is slightly smaller. The backs of the photographs have two Kodak logos repeated in gold. The logos are in diagonal lines. The text on the back of 2015.132.162.1 is upside down. The backs of the photographs have inscriptions at the bottom, handwritten by Bill Adler.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 2002
• Photograph by: Adrian Boot, British, born 1947
• Type: chromogenic color prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: dye and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.132.162.1 Sheet): 14 1/16 × 11 in. (35.7 × 27.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.132.162.1 Image): 13 1/8 × 6 in. (33.4 × 15.3 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.132.162.2 Sheet): 14 1/16 × 11 in. (35.7 × 27.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.132.162.2 Image): 13 9/16 × 6 1/4 in. (34.5 × 15.9 cm)
• Place captured: Kingston, Jamaica, Caribbean, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Dancehall (Music)
• Topic: Photography
• Object number: 2015.132.162.1-.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Adrian Boot Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.