Nichelle Dailey: Home

839 is pleased to announce “Home,” the debut solo gallery exhibition from photographer Nichelle Dailey. The exhibition comprises sixteen color photographs taken primarily in Frederick, Maryland, between 2018 and 2023, which offer an intimate, semi-autobiographical portrait of the artist’s hometown and its evolving cultural landscape.

At age five, Dailey moved to Frederick, Maryland from Union City, California, living with her mother and grandmother on Pinewood Drive for many years. Her mother's family has roots in the area dating back generations, including a farm in Adamstown that remains in the family. Dailey attended North Frederick Elementary School and Gov. Thomas Johnson Middle and High School (“TJ”), within walking distance of her grandmother’s home. She took her first darkroom and art classes in 10th grade at TJ. 

The exhibition reveals Dailey’s skill in producing empathetic images of local communities and the individuals who define them. One photograph, “Elks, West All Saints Street, Frederick, Maryland, 2018,” features five members of the Elks Lodge–a fraternal organization of Black Americans founded in the 19th century as a response to exclusion from white groups–seated around a table outdoors, dressed in distinctive white uniforms and red berets. All five sitters look directly, warmly toward the camera, evincing a familial impression and comfort with the photographer. The central subject, a woman standing center-frame behind the table, is flanked on either side by two seated Elks. Verdant foliage frames other parade-goers in the background.

Another work depicts a living room that is rich in personal and cultural symbolism. The focal point of “Pam’s Couch, Frederick, Maryland, 2021,” is an off-white sofa set against a floor-length floral curtain that runs the expanse of the wall behind. The furniture is carefully draped with a custom woven blanket featuring the likeness of a deceased relative alongside imagery of a farm, an open bible, the Baltimore skyline, and a Baltimore Orioles logo. The foreground of the image shows a recently vacuumed beige carpeted floor still fresh with diagonal striations. The combined floral drapery, custom blanket, and plush carpeting evoke the texture of domestic order and nostalgia to intertwine notions of family history, rural heritage, and regional identity.

Dailey’s grandmother, Micleta Alfernia Dailey, appears in the photograph “Grandma, Frederick, Maryland, 2018.” She is shown in a nursing home, seated with a neck pillow and blanket, before a tray of food. She has an oxygen hookup and stares out to the side, away from the viewer. The image resonates with the work of photographers like Nan Goldin or LaToya Ruby Frazier, who explore personal relationships, often confronting aging, illness, and mortality with unflinching honesty.

Dailey left Frederick for New York City in 2002. She now works and lives in Los Angeles.