Baron La Velle (Lawrence Jones) in His Home Theater, Louisville, Kentucky Possibly 1962 - 1989

This photograph by Stern J. Bramson captures Baron La Velle, also known as Lawrence Jones, in his Louisville, Kentucky home theater. The theatricality of the scene raises questions about performance, identity, and illusion. We see a staged domestic space where the art of magic and entertainment is not confined to a stage but integrated into the home. How might the construction of identity be like a magic trick, a staged performance? What is so interesting here is the conflation of race, class, and identity in mid-century America. On the one hand, it offers a glimpse into the aspirations and expressions of identity within the African American community. On the other hand, there is a sense of staged artifice, in which the performance of magic, the illusion, and the theatrics underscore the complexities of race and representation.