'Faces of the Stony Shore,' A Portraiture Exhibit by Rebekah Phoenix Wise, Opens Monday at Ma's House

In 2021, soon after becoming the communication director for the Shinnecock Nation, Rebekah Phoenix Wise picked up a camera to take photos of tribal events. She quickly fell in love with photography.

Now, just four years later, Wise is having her second solo exhibition at Ma’s House, the BIPOC art studio on the Shinnecock Nation Reservation founded and led by artist Jeremy Dennis. “Faces of the Stony Shore,” Wise’s selection of environmental portraiture, will be on view at Ma’s House beginning with an opening reception on Saturday, November 29.

Wise’s first exhibition with Ma’s House took place last year and it centered on a collection of curated photographs that she had previously taken. This year’s exhibit is completely new work.

Funded by the Support for Artists Grant from the New York State Council of the Arts, “Faces of the Stony Shore” is a series of seven portraits of tribal members taken in a location that is either meaningful to them or reflects their passions.

“A lot of the subjects are artists, so their photo is either in their workshops, where they craft or do vending,” Wise said in a recent interview. “The exhibition is portraits of people surrounded by their ‘thing,’ whatever that may be.”

Ranging from beaders to oyster farmers, the goal of the exhibit is to reflect the diversity and multifaceted lives of the modern-day Shinnecock Nation.

Alongside the photos of tribal members, the exhibition also features a written bio with information Wise has gathered through in-depth interviews with each subject. Wise has wanted to create these portraits for years, but it wasn’t until she received the grant, which was sponsored by Ma’s House, that she got the ball rolling.

“The original idea for this project, and what I always really wanted to do, was interview tribal members who I thought were really interesting,” Wise explained. “This exhibition is kind of a combination of this idea I had years ago of doing podcast-style interviews and using my photography skills to take pictures of people.”

Wise explained that taking photos of subjects in their home or their personal studio space adds a layer of authenticity to the images that might be harder to achieve if each subject were photographed in the same location.

“They’re much more comfortable in their spaces and you can see more of who they are as people,” she said, giving the example of a beader, whose photo was taken in her living room in front of the TV, which is where she does all of her work.

“She has a big table that she beads at, and in that photo you can see all of her materials and everything around her,” Wise said. “It tells more of her story than if I were to photograph her in a studio or in front of some trees.”

With four years of photography under her belt, Wise is now comfortable behind the camera. But, she said, there never fails to be an opportunity to learn more tricks of the trade.

“I’m still learning every day — it’s an ongoing process,” she said. “Luckily, I have a lot of subject matter to practice on all the time and there’s always something going on in Shinnecock. There’s so much opportunity to practice, craft and figure out how all of it works.”

Ma’s House director of curation, Brianna Hernández, spoke recently about her approach to curating this exhibit alongside Wise.

“We’ve already worked together, which is great — we have a little bit of a working relationship to build off of,” she said. “Oftentimes, it’s just a matter of seeing where the artist is at, what are the goals, what are the things that they want to have come out of it?”

Hernández highlighted in particular this exhibit’s archival possibilities.

“A big thing that we do at Ma’s House, with several of our exhibitions that focus on Shinnecock life, is have a way for other people to see what is happening with people and artists on the reservation,” she explained.

“I think there’s a huge gap in the average person even knowing what’s going on,” Hernández continued. “To be able to show that is really important, so for Rebecca to focus on that in her show adds a layer of education and insight for visitors to experience.”

Adding to that, Wise explained how important it was for her to exhibit subjects who may not be frequently recognized on the reservation, alongside those who get regular press.

“A lot of my subjects are beaders and crafters and other people who get a lot of publicity, and they’re used to doing interviews,” she said. “But, there are some other people who are not as used to it, who are not frequently highlighted, and I think that’s important. I hope they were really excited to be a part of this project.”

Though the show will only be up until February, Wise is adamant that the basis behind the exhibit — photos and interviews with tribal members — will be an ongoing process in the future.

“This is probably going to be a project that I will be working on forever,” she said. “I know I’m really excited for this project.”

The goal going forward for Wise is to continue to hone her skills in photography and interviewing in order to be able to keep telling these important life stories.

“I want to really just continue interviewing and sharing people’s stories — allowing them to tell their stories in their own words,” she said.

Finally, Hernández spoke to the importance of cultural work like this being exhibited at Ma’s House.

“Archival work is a really unique experience, so highlighting that aspect for people is an invitation to see and feel and hear more than you might normally,” Hernández said. “If you go to look around at a gallery, it is a communal art space, and having that layer of community built into the artist’s work is a really special thing.”

“Faces of the Stony Shore” will be on view at Ma’s House on the Shinnecock Nation Reservation from Monday, November 24, to Sunday, February 14. The exhibit’s opening reception is on Saturday, November 29, from 5 to 7 p.m. Open gallery hours are Thursdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Additional viewing is available any time by appointment. For more information, address instructions and to register for the opening reception, visit mashouse.studio.