Daesha Devón Harris, Saratoga Springs native and documentary photographer and award-winning artist, creates powerful multimedia pieces that speak to social issues in a creative and compelling way. Her photos depict subjects not as victims, instead showing them in a light of determination that illuminates Daesha’s relentless optimism. Harris’ practice includes individual and collective portraits of African-American and other often-unrecognized communities in Saratoga Springs, and the use of archival and historical research and images. Her MFA show, and yet must be…my Promise Land, and 2011 show at the National Museum of Dance, I’ve Got a Home: Inside a Community of Color, draw attention to African-American youths affected by gentrification.
Harris’ earliest mentor was her Great Uncle Joseph Daniels, a self taught artist and accomplished painter from whom she received painting instruction as a young child. She holds a BFA in Studio Art from the College of Saint Rose where she studied under the late Karene Faul – iconic artist and educator. Daesha earned her MFA in Visual Art from The University at Buffalo and has won several NYS artist grants. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions across New York State as well in Philadelphia, PA; Louisville, CO; and beyond. She plays an active role in her community as a youth advocate and cultural history preservationist.
Work
See more of Daesha’s portfolio including works from and yet must be…my Promise Land on her personal website.
