Dee Dwyer
My People
"A visual salute to the culture and community of Washington, D.C."
Inspired by Langston Hughes's poem My People, this exhibition honors the beauty, bouncebackability and pulse of the city. These are not just photographs — they're memories, handshakes, front-porch conversations, laughter vibrating down block-long summers, and the spiritual nod of being seen and known.
Dee Dwyer is an award-winning Photographer, Cultural Curator, Director, Community Connector and Educator from Southeast, Washington, D.C., whose work is grounded in long-term engagement. Her photographs — often shown in black and white — are marked by closeness and trust, shaped by relationships built over time rather than fleeting access. Dwyer's practice resists narrative simplification: instead, it allows space for complexity, interiority and self-definition.
Dwyer's work has been supported and exhibited by The Phillips Collection, The National Building Museum, PhotoSCHWEIZ, Catchlight, Reginald F. Lewis Museum, The MLK Library, Photoville and more. In 2024, she was the subject of a documentary released by the National Gallery of Art, positioning her practice in dialogue with the social documentary legacy of Dorothea Lange. Her work has appeared in ESSENCE, EBONY, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and NPR, among others.
