Jules T. Allen

Jules Allen (born September 13, 1947) is an American photographer, author, and educator. He is known for his photographs of African-American culture. He is an emeritus professor of Queensborough Community College of the City University of New York, where he has taught for two decades in the art and photography department.

Biography
Jules T. Allen was born in San Francisco, California. He studied at San Francisco State University (BFA, MS degree), under photographer Jack Welpott. He moved to New York City in 1978. He continued his studies at Hunter College (MFA degree).

He shares the belief of photographer Diane Arbus, who states, “the more specific a thing is, the more general.” The artist, Danny Dawson has said, "Allen has a “keen eye for the obvious” in his lifelong work evocative of the contemporary black experience.  His images place subjects drawn from the richness of black life within universal paradigms. They have inspired collaborations with  journalists, visual artists, musicians, playwrights, poets, and filmmakers.

Allen also used his photographs to promote segregation and the idea that blacks and whites were truly equal. Allen comments on his collection depicting boxers in Gleason Gym by saying, "whatever racism existed, it did not seem to have much effect on the fighters in the room. It was a question of character. It was a place where people seemed to be more equal". Allen used the boxing ring and the sport itself to display the equality between blacks and whites as they were literally on even ground and the only difference between the two was the character of each fighter. It wasn’t a question of who was what race and who had more privilege, it was about the heart and drive of each of the fighters in the ring. Allen's books include Hats and HatNots, Black Bodies and 2011 publication on boxing life in New York City's Gleason's Gym, Double Up: Photographs by Jules Allen, and the 2013 publication of "In Your Own Sweet Way," a personal and intimate collection of photographic conversations across the continent of Africa. Exhibited in the U.S. and abroad, as shown in the Permanent Museum Collections & Exhibition listing below, he is the recipient of grants and awards. His photographs are housed in museum collections worldwide. His commercial and corporate work has been seen on covers of national publications such as Business Week, Forbes and Black Enterprise magazines as well as within the Annual Reports of corporate boards and clients within the music industry.

Marching Bands
Allen's most prominent project, The Black Marching Band, depicts the Morgan State University marching band. In this project, Allen uses the marching band to challenge the preconceived ideas of marching bands at the time. Allen also believed the Morgan State band specifically was providing a much more original, almost tribal African American sound. He says, “What I call now the pulse and beat of what they were doing. It all seemed so particular to an African-American sensibility". Allen believed that the marching band gave a very expressive and musical way to express unity and cooperation within the African American community. Allen published the book Marching Bands (2016, City University of New York) on the subject.

Permanent collections

 * New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut
 * Brooklyn Museum, New York City, New York
 * National Museum of American Art (now Smithsonian American Art Museum), Washington, D.C.
 * Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City, New York
 * Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York City, New York
 * Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City, New York
 * Queensborough Community College, New York City, New York
 * Dreyfus Fund, New York City, New York
 * Overholland Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Exhibitions

 * A Little More Towards the Light, Solo Exhibition, Shadow Image Gallery, New York, New York, 1989
 * Photography and the Culture Climate, Solo Exhibition, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1989
 * Black USA, Group Exhibition, Overhollander Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1990
 * The Knife, Group Exhibition, Agnes B. Gallery, Paris France, 1990
 * Contemporary Urban Images, Group Exhibition Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York, 1990
 * Mean Streets, Group Exhibition Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, 1991
 * On the Edge, Group Exhibition, Henry Street Settlement House, New York, New York, 1991
 * Two Photographers, Group Exhibition, Geneva, Switzerland, 1991
 * Home, Group Exhibition, De Meervaart Cultural Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1991
 * Fighting Spirit, Solo Exhibition, Delta Axis Arts Center, Memphis, Tennessee, 1992
 * Songs of My People, Group Exhibition, Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C., Museum of the City of New York, New York, 1992
 * Public Photographs, Solo Exhibition, 60 Bus Shelters Throughout Harlem], New York, Public Art Fund, New York, New York, 1992
 * Hats and Hat Nots, Solo Exhibition, QCC Art Gallery, City University of New York, Bayside, Queens, New York, 1993
 * In the Ring, Solo Exhibition, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island, New York, 1993
 * Our Town, Group Exhibition, Burden Gallery, New York, New York, 1993
 * Gesture and Pose, Group Exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, 1994
 * Hats and Hat Nots, Solo Exhibition, Drew University, New Jersey, 1995
 * Million Man March, Group Exhibition, Del Pryor Galleries, Detroit, Michigan, 1997
 * Domestic Abuse Awareness Project, Group Exhibition & Auction, Kent Gallery, New York, New York, 1997
 * Icon to Narrative: Harlem, Group Exhibition, IRADAC Center, New York, New York, 1998
 * Living for the City, Group Traveling Exhibition, Parsons School of Design, New York, New York, 1997
 * Americanos: Latino Life in the United States, Group Exhibition, and Museum of the City of New York, New York, 1999
 * Black New Yorkers/ Black New York, Group Exhibition, Schomburg Center, New York, New York, 1999
 * Harlem, Group Exhibition, Leica Gallery, New York, New York, 2000
 * Committed to the Image, Group Exhibition, Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, New York, 2001
 * Life of the City, Group Exhibition, Permanent Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, 2002
 * Americanos, Group Exhibition, Smithsonian Institution, shown in 26 cities; Washington DC, New York, Chicago, San Antonio, Houston, Austin, Los Angeles, Omaha, St. Petersburg, Tucson, Milwaukee, Boston, Charlotte, 2002
 * African American Masters, American Museum of Natural History, Traveling Exhibition, 2004
 * Imagines Havana, Group Exhibition of Latin, Caribbean and U.S. photographers, Santiago/ Havana, Cuba, co-sponsored by Fototeca, Royal Nederland's Embassy and The Washington Post, 2004
 * Photographs: Jules Allen, Solo Exhibition, Institute of African Affairs, New York University, New York, New York, 2006
 * Marching Bands Exhibit, Solo Exhibition, The Jazz Gallery, New York, New York, 2006
 * Propositions on the Permanent Collection, Group Exhibition, Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, New York, 2009
 * Leica Gallery, "Double Up" Solo Exhibition, New York, New York, November 16, 2012 through January 5, 2013

Awards and honors

 * Award, CAPS, Photography, New York, New York, 1980
 * Photography Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York, New York, 1985
 * Grant, Light Work, Syracuse, New York, 1986
 * Photography Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts, 1991
 * Award, New York Council of the Arts, & Public Art Fund Presentation; “60 Bus Stop Shelters,” City College of New York, New York, 1992
 * Research & Photography Grant Funding, City University of New York, New York, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York, 1994–99; 2001
 * Imagines Havana, Documentary Photography Panel, Seminar for Latin, Caribbean and US photographers; co-sponsored by The Washington Post and Fototeca, 2003
 * Research & Photography Grant Funding, CETL Grants & Awards City University of New York, New York, 2003
 * Research & Photography Grant Funding, CETL Grants & Awards City University of New York, New York, 2004–2009
 * Southeast Queens Camera Club, Jamaica, New York, Lecture April 17, 2012
 * Excellence in Faculty Scholarship Award, Queensborough Community College, April 20, 2012