Listening carefully
Added 2024-05-14 08:54:43 +0000 UTCIn a social media and a short news cycle world where outrage is farmed for interaction and click bait, there is a lot to sift through to hear meaningful discussions. One of the discussions to catch my attention is around how black people are photographed.
Zendaya recently posed for famed photographer Annie Liebovitz and a black podcaster was asking Zendaya's stylist Law Roach about it because she is renowned for photographing black people badly. As legendary as Annie is, I do think her work has dropped off in recent years and the Zendaya shots weren't amazing.
I also took note of a report that Beyonce won't work with non-black photographers. I fully support an artist, especially of her level, choosing the people she wants to work with very carefully. Without chatting to her I probably won't ever know the nuance behind that decision but from my understanding Beyonce is very proud to support black creators and businesses as she should be and given the racist reaction to her country album I also understand only working with people who will understand what it's like to live the black experience. In a country like America (and Australia) where traditionally it has only been when black artists dilute their blackness to appease the white people, why not try and break down that system?
As a white man I believe I can and have photographed black men in a way that is respectful, not over-lighting or resorting to cliches. But as someone who will never know racism I can only listen to those affected and do my best to learn from the conversation.
In the meantime enjoy these images of some of the most beautiful black men I have seen photographed. Djimon Hounsou, Kevin Carnell, Pierre Vuela and the first black male supermodel Tyson Beckford.
