Alvin Lester: Portraits of Jackson Ward and Beyond

/ Bonnie Newman Davis
Robert Wagstaff, Shoe Cobbler (detail), 1989–91, Alvin Lester (American, born 1947), gelatin silver print. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, National Endowment for the Arts Fund, 2025.96. © Alvin Lester

Courtesy VMFA

This exciting exhibition showcases 20 portraits photographed by Alvin Lester in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when he set out to capture the people and businesses that defined Richmond’s historic Jackson Ward, as well as nearby neighborhoods such as Northside and Church Hill.

Lester photographed beauticians, bakers, real estate brokers, journalists, and others who formed the backbone of Richmond’s famous Second Street business district. There, Jackson Ward emerged, in the decades after the Civil War, as a vibrant center of Black community, business, and family life. Lester is particularly attuned to the role of small business in forming a city’s character.

Photographer Alvin Lester (center) is surrounded by his wife, Jackie (third from left), and a host of friends following his artist’s talk on Oct. 24 at VMFA.

Now part of the VMFA collection, Lester’s portraits are a lasting tribute to the strength and spirit of Black Richmond and a testament to the generational roots that continue to shape the city today.

Alvin Lester: Portraits of Jackson Ward and Beyond is organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and curated by Dr. Sarah Kennel, VMFA’s Aaron Siskind Curator of Photography and Director of the Raysor Center for Works on Paper. The exhibit continues through March 30, 2026. Details here.