Since I was 24, I’ve been a commercial and editorial photographer. I'm now 36, and it's the only job I've ever had. Throughout that time I have been documenting the lives of people around me, specifically Black people. Rich and poor, young and old. I have not done this because of any specific artistic aspiration, but instead because being Black is who I am. Although I have been documenting Black lives for the last decade and a half, I never felt fully confident to share this body of work in my book, site, or marketing materials. I feared walking into meetings with an FCB, a BBDO, a Leo Burnett, and being seen as a photographer who lacked access to the kind of environments and faces that agencies and brands have made a priority. I’ve struggled to maintain a balance in the work that I show to the public as a result.
Now as the large portions of the country have been awakened to the everyday struggle to preserve Black lives in America the conversation has shifted. When we cut through the noise and distractions trying to discredit the moment and the movement and talk about Black lives there are so many untruths (conscious and unconscious) of who a Black woman is, of who a Black man is, and who Black youth are.
The obstacle of these falsehoods has given me pause to share the lives I have documented within the Black community. But as Black lives have continued to be de-valued through the murders of George Floyd, Ahmad Arbery, and Breonna Taylor the importance and urgency for me to share this work has grown. From my perspective, as a Black man, I now feel the need to show who they are, what they look like, and how important it is to know the stories of Black lives.
