The Daily - August 10, 2021 - 9

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THE
H E A D L I N E S / P O R T R A I T S / O P I N I O N / M A R K E T I N G
Lamont
Joseph
White
Something
Yet Higher
In his depictions of Black skiers and mountaineers,
Lamont Joseph White hopes to
spark community discussions and help people
of color envision themselves as part of the
world of outdoor recreation and adventure.
By James Edward Mills
ATTENDING OUTDOOR RETAILER
Summer for the fi rst time, Lamont
Joseph White has something truly
special to bring to the outdoor
industry. An avid snowboarder
based in Park City, Utah, he is a
talented visual artist with a unique
perspective on subjects and imagery
that are too seldom seen in
the world of adventure sports. As a
man of African descent who hails
originally from the urban neighborhoods
of Brooklyn, New York,
White envisions snow-capped
mountains and downhill ski slopes
populated by empowered fi gures
who just happen to be Black men
and women. His work is featured
this week at the Colorado Convention
Center as he presents a
recently commissioned portrait of
Charles Madison Crenchaw, the
fi rst Black climber to reach the
summit of Denali.
" To be asked to help commemoPhotograph
by Carlo Nasisse
rate and tell his story, to broaden
the reach of his story through my
artwork, is just an incredible honor, "
says White.
In hopes of starting a substantive
conversation around the
issues of how people of color are
represented in outdoor recreation,
White began creating a series
of paintings. Modeled initially
around his personal experiences
at the ski resorts of his adopted
hometown, he was inspired to
create images of Black folks that
refl ect the pride and joy he feels
as a person of color living his best
life unapologetically on the highest
peaks of the Wasatch Range.
" The infrequency of Black and
brown faces in mountain spaces
triggered me to start creating the
collection Skiing in Color, " White
says. " That kicked things off for
me to put paint to canvas-very
simply: Black skiers. "
These depictions bring to the
world beautifully rendered illustrations
of the Black experience
of skiing. Portrayed as athletes
with varying degrees of skill and
abilities across many diff erent
ages, the Skiing in Color collection
celebrates the passion and freedom
of those privileged to recreate
without limitation in the outdoors.
" When I get up on that mountaintop,
I do feel blessed. I do feel
fortunate. I do feel free, " White
says. " There's real freedom in being
outdoors. So when we juxtapose
that with our centuries-long fi ght
for what true equality and freedom
means, I like that narrative. "
White imagines skiing and
outdoor adventure as an extension
of the dream Martin Luther King
Jr. defi ned at the height of the civil
rights movement. He recalls the allusions
to mountaintop aspirations
in the struggle for racial equality
throughout the 1960s. As part of his
portrait series, White transforms
the images of historical fi gures like
Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman,
Rosa Parks, and King himself
OUTDOOR RETAILER SUMMER 2021 /
9
The Daily - August 10, 2021

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