Samba, Berlin
When you got to Samba’s place, it was already late in the afternoon on a cloudy day. You were worried that the picture would not be good, but after the scan, you were amazed by the results. He told you he had had a long day because he had been cleaning the house and everything, since the friends (or family) of his wife were coming to stay over for a few days. When you asked him where his wife was, he said she had taken the children to the park. You were surprised—he certainly looked like a family man, but you didn’t imagine him cleaning the house and doing all the preparations while his wife was outside with the kids.
You realised that even though you work on the image of Black men and how to fight against stereotypes, you still have some of your own too. He stopped cleaning so you could do the picture before it got dark. His wife and kids were back too; you shared a meal he had prepared..
Clement, Brussels
When you got to his place, you were surprised by his mom in the living room. It was your first time going to someone’s place and meeting their parents; most of the people you had met so far lived alone. As a true Black mother, she didn’t move from the couch she was lying on—it was up to you to adapt yourself. His mom teased him about his hair and how he was dressing.
We stressed that it was a picture that had to look as natural as possible, since it was taken at home. It made you think of your mother too. You missed her… it had been so long since you had seen her, and it could take even more years before you are able to go back home again…
Marius, Arles
Marius was like the father figure of your group, the one who scolded lazy eaters but also pushed for one more shot of whisky whenever you were out. But he also had this soft side you wouldn’t find in any other Black man in your group. He spoke gently, in an assuring tone… You took a lot of pleasure in taking his photograph. You had switched the script: you were the one in control, telling him what to do, what to wear, where to stand, and all that.
Kenan, Antwerp
Both you and Kenan knew exactly what it feels like to be inside an institution that, in theory, is supposed to be accessible to everyone, but is in reality dominated almost exclusively by white people. It is so rare to cross paths with another Black person in art schools. You spoke about that feeling of always being on the margins, of having to prove your legitimacy twice as much as everyone else.
You also talked about the loneliness it creates, the gaze of the professors, the lack of representation in the curriculum, and the urgent need to create your own spaces. That day, you decided to take this photograph as a way to mark that complicity, that shared moment, that gentle resistance.
Rubiel, Arles
You had crossed paths briefly for the first time when you were coming from the gym and he was doing dangerous tricks on a bike with another friend of yours. Your friend introduced Rubiel to you! You tried to join in the tricks thing, but you failed terribly. The thing that caught your attention first was the way Rubiel spoke so fast you could barely understand anything he said, so sometimes you just nodded or ignored the question, hoping he wouldn’t take it the wrong way.
A few days later, you were invited to his place. It was a farewell party for one of his friends who had recently graduated. He had prepared Ubugari n’Inyama, the best African dish! The fun part was that everyone was eating with their hands, it felt like a real communion, a fraternity in the making (between all the Black men who were there).
Tej, Brussels
The day you took Tej picture, was one of those days you wake and just decide to do something stupid !! Like going out in a city you don’t know without the internet or calling credits, just with the hope that google maps will be faithful. And oh boy it disappointed you, after getting lost left and right, you finally arrived at his place 30 minutes later, but all in all you enjoyed your experience… you wanted to test if you had a sense of direction !
Tej’s apartment was like nothing you had seen so far, so chaotically beautiful, it was a work of art just like its owner. You talked about the way he wanted to move to New York to pursue his acting career, he was getting bored of his current life, and he wanted new sparks, something very dynamic… America has never really been your cup of tea, but you didn’t tell him that, you wanted to hear him talking about New York and all the life he was dreaming of living.
Joel, The Hague
When you were in the Netherlands, you had only one week there, and at some point you started getting worried because you weren’t finding Black people to photograph. Well, you had come there for fun and to visit other friends, but still, getting pictures was a top priority too. You asked a friend of yours if she could connect you with people from her school. She gave you the contact of Joem, and from the first texts you exchanged, you could tell how genuine he was!
You went to meet him two days later, and the crazy thing is, you had already crossed paths at a major photography event where he had won an award but you had missed the moment he received his prize because you were on a cute date several meters away, and during the dinner afterwards, you didn’t see him. So you went into deep talks about awards and how it felt winning and all. He encouraged you to apply the following year too, because he had high regards for your project. You left his apartment very optimistic, but mostly touched by his openness and humbleness.
Brian, Brussels
The house of Brian, to put it simply, was vintage. He had a lot of collections and fabrics from Africa all over the rooms. At some point you were sad because you couldn’t put everything you could see in one picture! Maybe you should return to his house someday, ahh. As he is an actor, you were interested in knowing how the cinema industry in Germany works, because somehow you feel like you have a better shot at making it in cinema than you would in photography. But then you realised that it’s not that much better than anywhere else!
He told you about the stereotypical roles he usually gets: an angry man, a drug addict on the street, and such. Or even when they give him a better role, they would always add that scene that doesn’t make sense. Whenever he would ask why his character is doing that, they would just tell him that it’s a “small thing.” He used to give in before, but now he stands his ground and refuses whatever feels irrelevant to the character he is playing just because he is Black.
Komi, Arles
If Komi could cast a spell on anyone, it would have been on you, to make you a fashion or modelling photographer—but to his disappointment, you were not! For some reason, you felt so bad whenever you asked him to participate in your other projects…
The other day he told you an agent had approached him and asked if he would be interested in posing for an advertisement. He was so excited, and somehow you felt proud, because you were the person who took some of his first pictures. Later, when you are both famous (you hope), you’ll joke about the good old days.
