Self Lens: Black Family and Queerness

A lot of people do not understand exactly what it means to be Black and Queer, so I originally started the project looking at Black queerness from the perspective of three of my Black queer friends. I wanted the project to focus solely on them, but in the middle of the project I loss my great-grandmother, who was one of people who helped guide me through life and gave me an intriguing way of looking at it which is with love. I noticed that with my subjects, Michelle, Breon, and Johnna, they were all displaying a way in which they loved themselves and love others. I used to think that the way I was raised was completely different from my novel Black queer lens, but I realized when it came to showing love there were immense similarities.

I loved making this project, especially connecting it back to my own family! Of course, it was difficult dealing with grief throughout the project, but I think that it allowed me to add an immense amount of depth to my project. I loved seeing how the Black queer people that I was photographing all were unique and found some way to appreciate and honor themselves.