He shares the belief of photographer Diane Arbus, who states, “the more specific a thing is, the more general.” The artist, Danny Dawson has said, "Allen has a “keen eye for the obvious” in his lifelong work evocative of the contemporary black experience.[7] His images place subjects drawn from the richness of black life within universal paradigms. They have inspired collaborations with journalists, visual artists, musicians, playwrights, poets, and filmmakers.[citation needed]
Allen also used his photographs to promote segregation and the idea that blacks and whites were truly equal. Allen comments on his collection depicting boxers in Gleason Gym by saying, "whatever racism existed, it did not seem to have much effect on the fighters in the room. It was a question of character. It was a place where people seemed to be more equal".[8] Allen used the boxing ring and the sport itself to display the equality between blacks and whites as they were literally on even ground and the only difference between the two was the character of each fighter. It wasn’t a question of who was what race and who had more privilege, it was about the heart and drive of each of the fighters in the ring. Allen's books include Hats and HatNots, Black Bodies and 2011 publication on boxing life in New York City's Gleason's Gym, Double Up: Photographs by Jules Allen, and the 2013 publication of "In Your Own Sweet Way," a personal and intimate collection of photographic conversations across the continent of Africa. Exhibited in the U.S. and abroad, as shown in the Permanent Museum Collections & Exhibition listing below, he is the recipient of grants and awards.[9] His photographs are housed in museum collections worldwide.[10] His commercial and corporate work has been seen on covers of national publications such as Business Week, Forbes and Black Enterprise magazines as well as within the Annual Reports of corporate boards and clients within the music industry.[11]
Marching Bands
Allen's most prominent project, The Black Marching Band, depicts the Morgan State University marching band.[12] In this project, Allen uses the marching band to challenge the preconceived ideas of marching bands at the time. Allen also believed the Morgan State band specifically was providing a much more original, almost tribal African American sound. He says, “What I call now the pulse and beat of what they were doing. It all seemed so particular to an African-American sensibility".[13] Allen believed that the marching band gave a very expressive and musical way to express unity and cooperation within the African American community.[14] Allen published the book Marching Bands (2016, City University of New York) on the subject.[15]
Black New Yorkers/ Black New York, Group Exhibition, Schomburg Center, New York, New York, 1999
Harlem, Group Exhibition, Leica Gallery, New York, New York, 2000
Committed to the Image, Group Exhibition, Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, New York, 2001
Life of the City, Group Exhibition, Permanent Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, 2002
Americanos, Group Exhibition, Smithsonian Institution, shown in 26 cities; Washington DC, New York, Chicago, San Antonio, Houston, Austin, Los Angeles, Omaha, St. Petersburg, Tucson, Milwaukee, Boston, Charlotte, 2002
Imagines Havana, Group Exhibition of Latin, Caribbean and U.S. photographers, Santiago/ Havana, Cuba, co-sponsored by Fototeca, Royal Nederland's Embassy and The Washington Post, 2004
Photographs: Jules Allen, Solo Exhibition, Institute of African Affairs, New York University, New York, New York, 2006
Marching Bands Exhibit, Solo Exhibition, The Jazz Gallery, New York, New York, 2006
Propositions on the Permanent Collection, Group Exhibition, Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, New York, 2009
Leica Gallery, "Double Up" Solo Exhibition, New York, New York, November 16, 2012 through January 5, 2013
Awards and honors
Award, CAPS, Photography, New York, New York, 1980
Photography Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts, 1991
Award, New York Council of the Arts, & Public Art Fund Presentation; “60 Bus Stop Shelters,” City College of New York, New York, 1992
Research & Photography Grant Funding, City University of New York, New York, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York, 1994–99; 2001
Imagines Havana, Documentary Photography Panel, Seminar for Latin, Caribbean and US photographers; co-sponsored by The Washington Post and Fototeca, 2003
Research & Photography Grant Funding, CETL Grants & Awards City University of New York, New York, 2003
Research & Photography Grant Funding, CETL Grants & Awards City University of New York, New York, 2004–2009
Southeast Queens Camera Club, Jamaica, New York, Lecture April 17, 2012
^Black USA. Bill Traylor [and others]. Museum Overholland, 1990. "This catalog has been published on the occasion of the exhibition Black USA in Museum Overholland, Amsterdam, from April 7 to July 29, 1990." New York Public Library. https://www.nypl.org/research/research-catalog/bib/b23317541
