Dee Dwyer Opens Exhibition at The Phillips Collection

In Wild Seeds of the Soufside, photographer Dee Dwyer takes us on a visual journey into the heart of Southeast DC, a “hidden gem in the nation’s capital” also known as Soufside. Inspired by the book Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler, Dwyer connects the Soufside community with the book’s main characters Anyanwu and Doro, immortal beings with supernatural powers who are misunderstood and feared by those unaccustomed to their style of living. Dwyer’s photographs are evocative, sensuous, exude power, and serve to demystify an area that has been misconceived. As Washington—which was nicknamed “Chocolate City” in the 1970s due to the high population of Black people—experiences more gentrification, Black natives are being displaced; as gentrification moves into Southeast, Dwyer’s photographs seek to preserve the soul of the community she calls home. “Southeast is a low resourced area that has a reputation for being treacherous and filled with warrior spirits like Doro. But it is simultaneously healing with an extraordinarily long life like Anyanwu,” the artist explains. “Soufside is the ‘wild seed’ of DC that remains grounded in its Black roots. Its original people are fighting to survive the destruction of their homeland. This exhibition is an opening to our soul for the world to see how magical we are. Like the lotus flower, we will survive through the mud and bloom when the sun appears.”

The exhibition at The Phillips Collection opened from February 18, to May 13, 2023.