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Title
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Moses West Holding a “Free Water” Sign on North Saginaw Street between East Marengo Avenue and East Pulaski Avenue, Flint, Michigan
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Artist
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LaToya Ruby Frazier
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Date
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2019
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Description
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A photograph from LaToya Ruby Frazier's series Flint is Family, which documents the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, a predominantly Black city whose residents were exposed to lead-contaminated water. It shows Moses West, a retired Army captain and engineer who builds atmospheric water generators that pull drinking water from the air, holding a “Free Water” sign on North Saginaw Street. Following Flint is Family, Frazier partnered with West and AWG Contracting to bring one of his generators to Flint so residents could make their own clean water. The work is an archival pigment print on Hahnemühle FineArt Baryta, 40 × 30 in. It was shown in Breath(e): Toward Climate and Social Justice at the Hammer Museum, UCLA (2024–25), as an example of what scholar Rob Nixon calls slow violence.
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Artwork Type
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Photography
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Materiality
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Photographic Materials
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Climate & Ecology Themes
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Water and Drought
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Toxicity and Chemical Exposure
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Environmental Racism
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Public and Environmental Health
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Concepts
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Care and Reciprocity
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Ecological Domain / Habitat
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Urban
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Methods & Approaches
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Storytelling / Narrative Practice
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Activism / Direct Action
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Audience / Engagement Type
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Public / General Audience
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Location
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Flint, Michigan
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Geographic Scope
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National
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Rights
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Rights held by artist or creator
