March 10: Miranda Barnes & Doreen St. Félix

On Tuesday, March 10, Miranda Barnes discusses her new book Social Season (MACK & Important Flowers) with Doreen St. Félix!

Debutante balls were once rites reserved for white European nobility with the purpose of introducing young women to polite society and potential suitors. In the wake of emancipation towards the end of the nineteenth century, African Americans adopted this tradition as a means of social upliftment, community building, and education. This debut book by Brooklyn-based photographer Miranda Barnes explores the rich history of Black cotillions in the US through an immersive collection of photographs made at debutante balls in Detroit between 2022 and 2025.

This poignant and elegant body of work documents the community, camaraderie, and anticipation of this custom and the moment of transition it hinges upon. Sensitive portraits of debutantes with their elders and scenes of couples practicing their steps and dancing in formation are interleaved with studies of the distinctive material world of the cotillion: opulent corsages, taffeta ball gowns, morning suits, and tiaras. The resulting sequence harks back to bygone times and dreamworlds of childhood and youth, yet is also grounded firmly and emotively in the present, as young people look with anticipation towards their future. Social Season offers a glimpse of a unique tradition and introduces an exceptional documentarian of Black communities and subcultures in today’s United States.

The book is commissioned by Sofia Coppola and features a text by Dr. Renita Barge Clark, founder of The Cotillion Society of Detroit Educational Foundation, recounting the programme’s roots and its work in the community.

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Doreen St. Félix is a writer and critic. Since 2017, she has been a staff writer at The New Yorker. She has lectured at Yale University, Columbia University, Loyola Marymount University and others. She is a recipient of the National Magazine Award for Criticism.

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