A mother and son united by love and art | Deborah Willis and Hank Willis Thomas
TED Talks Daily
TED
4.1 • 12.1K Ratings
🗓️ 20 December 2017
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
An art school professor once told Deborah Willis that she, as a woman, was taking a place from a good man -- but the storied photographer says she instead made a space for a good man, her son Hank Willis Thomas. In this moving talk, the mother and son artists describe how they draw from one another in their work, how their art challenges mainstream narratives about black life and black joy, and how, ultimately, everything comes down to love.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This TED Talk features curator and photographer Deborah Willis, an artist Hank Willis Thomas, recorded live at TED Women 2017. |
| 0:11.0 | I'm Deb's son. |
| 0:14.0 | And I'm Hank's mom. |
| 0:17.0 | We've said that so many times we've made a piece about it. It's called, sometimes I See Myself and You. |
| 0:23.6 | And it speaks to the symbiotic relationship |
| 0:25.6 | that we've developed over the years through our life and work. |
| 0:28.6 | And it really is because everywhere we go, together or apart, |
| 0:32.6 | we carry these monikers. |
| 0:34.6 | I've been following in my mother's footsteps since before I was even born |
| 0:38.6 | and haven't figured out how to stop. |
| 0:41.9 | And as I get older, it does get harder. |
| 0:45.3 | No, seriously, it gets harder. |
| 0:48.6 | My mother's taught me many things, though. |
| 0:51.2 | Most of all, that love overrules. |
| 0:53.5 | She's taught me that love is an action, |
| 0:58.8 | not a feeling. Love is a way of being, it's a way of doing, it's a way of listening, |
| 1:05.2 | and it's a way of seeing. And also the idea about love, photographers, they're looking for love when they make photographs. |
| 1:15.5 | They're looking and looking and finding love. Growing up in North Philadelphia, I was surrounded by |
| 1:21.2 | people in my family and friends who made photographs and used the family camera as a way of |
| 1:27.4 | telling a story about life, |
| 1:29.4 | about life of joy, |
| 1:31.1 | about what it meant to become a family in North Philadelphia. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of TED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.