Adger Cowans

Born on September 19, 1936, in Columbus, Ohio, Cowans first demonstrated creative talent through music, earning a scholarship in trumpet performance before ultimately pursuing photography. He became one of the first African American graduates in photography from Ohio University, studying with Clarence H. White Jr. and drawing inspiration from photography greats like Ansel Adams, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, W. Eugene Smith, and Paul Strand. He continued his training at the School of Visual Arts and the School of Motion Picture Arts in New York City.

Cowans served in the U.S. Navy Reserves, where he worked as a photographer, continuing a family tradition of military service that included relatives such as a Tuskegee Airman and a Buffalo Soldier. After his service, he moved to New York and joined the staff at Life magazine, where he worked closely with the legendary Gordon Parks, who became a mentor and influence on his commitment to social justice through the arts. Cowans also worked with fashion photographer Henry Clarke and participated in a broad range of commercial, editorial, and fine art photography.

In 1963, Cowans joined the Kamoinge Workshop, a collective of Black photographers dedicated to documenting the African American experience, and later became affiliated with AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists) in 1979. His contributions to cinema include serving as the first African American film still photographer in Hollywood, working on over 30 films with directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Sidney Lumet, and Spike Lee.

Cowans’s work has been featured in numerous significant exhibitions, including Committed to the Image at the Brooklyn Museum, A History of African American Photographers, Working Together: The Photographers of the Kamoinge Workshop at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Personal Vision: The Exhibition at Hearne Fine Art. His photography has also been published in notable volumes such as Sacred Bond: Black Men and Their Mothers and his own monographs, Art in the Moment: Life and Times of Adger Cowans (2019) and Adger (2022).

Cowans’s accolades reflect his influence across disciplines and generations. He received the prestigious Lorenzo il Magnifico alla Carriera at the Florence Biennale of Contemporary Art, the John Hay Whitney Fellowship, the Gordon Parks Legendary Award, the Martin Luther King Jr., César Chávez, Rosa Parks Visiting Scholars Award from Wayne State University, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Howard University in 2017.

Now based in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Adger Cowans remains a vital and celebrated figure in American art, known for his experimental approach and powerful visual storytelling.