[KarlMalone]

Not the most attractive woman in the world, but an A+ for bravery.

THIS BROOKLYN ARTIST TOOK NUDE SELF-PORTRAITS AT NEW YORK'S SLAVE-TRADE LANDMARKS

For the last several years, however, artist Nona Faustine has worked to shine a light on New York City’s buried legacy of slavery in a striking series of self-portraits titled “White Shoes.” The photographs feature Faustine posing before famous New York landmarks and locales: City Hall, the State Supreme Court Building, Wall Street — forgotten marketplaces where African men, women, and children were once bought, sold, and rented into slavery.

Save for the pair of high heels beneath her feet and a piece of broken black chain around her wrist, Faustine is completely nude in the images, a showing of solidarity with the women who stood in her place centuries before.

“The nudity was symbolic of the way black people were put on display and sold," Faustine tells the Voice. "Black women were put on display on the slave blocks, and I felt a strong [sense of] solidarity with those women.”

Taken in broad daylight, the photos had to be snapped quickly, before drawing too much attention. “Anybody can go to these places fully clothed. But to risk something for your beliefs, your art, to strip yourself of any clothing or protection, it’s a state of vulnerability.”