A grief observed, through photos

Nina Robinson has photographed nightlife in New York City and scenes on subways and done multiple shoots for magazines and newspapers. 

But her latest project turns the lens inward, toward her family and their community in rural Arkansas. 

In 2014, Ms. Robinson planned a long trip through the south, starting with a visit to the tiny town of Dalark, Arkansas, where her grandmother and other relatives lived. But a week into her trip, her grandmother died.

“Nothing made sense anymore, I just wanted to be with my family. I had no intention of turning [the photographs] into a project. It was more of a healing process for me to be with my family and document the process,” she said. 

Ms. Robinson stayed in Dalark for three months, capturing her grandmother’s last days, the family’s grieving and then the community as a whole. She said she used her camera as a shield, channeling her emotions into photographs. 

The result is a moving collection of captured moments that range from joyful, like a child eating a roasted marshmallow in front of a bonfire, to heartbreaking — a picture of Ms. Robinson holding her grandmother’s hand days before she passed away.

Once Ms. Robinson returned to the Bronx, looked through the images and got reactions from some other people, she decided to make the project public. About a year ago, 27 pictures from her trip were published on The New York Times’ photography blog, Lens. 

“They were just very proud,” Ms. Robinson said of her family in Dalark. “They’re thankful I could take the time to honor my grandma in that type of way.”

While she focused on her family, the photographs also revealed a unique community.

“Rural African-American communities, they’re dying and neglected,” she said. “What I hope for this work is that it will broaden the audience’s minds about how they view black culture and blackness,” she said. 

The photographer added that she wants people to see the work and perhaps realize they should take time to visit their family other than at the big events, like weddings and funerals. Before she returned in 2014, Ms. Robinson had not been to Dalark in 15 years. 

“I hope that the takeaway from this work is for people to want to know more about their family and history, and not to be away for so long,” she said. 

‘Nina Robinson: Not Forgotten: An Arkansas Family Album” runs from Saturday, April 9 to Sunday, May 29 at the Bronx Documentary Center, located at 614 Courtlandt Ave.