BLACK ART HISTORY: Florestine Perrault Collins

Florestine Perrault Collins was one of the first Black female photographers in the U.S., working in New Orleans during the early 1900s. At a time when both women and Black artists had very little access to creative careers, she built her own photography business from the ground up. Collins shot mostly portraits of Black families, women, and children, capturing them with care, pride, and intention. Her photos pushed back against the racist imagery that was everywhere back then and instead showed Black life in the South as dignified, beautiful, and full of joy.

She had a real understanding of how people—especially women—wanted to be seen, and that came through in all her work. She even used that in her ads, letting potential clients know she was a woman who could photograph women and children with care and respect. Collins’ work is a huge part of Black visual history and early 20th-century Southern photography, but she’s still not as well-known as she should be. Her legacy lives on in the way she used photography to uplift her community and challenge the mainstream narratives of her time.