Bodily Function
We photographed four different young men of color from four different walks of life from the same state and roughly the same county in New Jersey. They’re seen expressing themselves in different ways as a means to expose the general public to the intersectionality of the experiences of young minorities; specifically young men. These were genuine feelings.
The Washington Post reported that black men are shot at disproportionately higher rates in comparison to other people groups. Black men between the ages of sixteen to thirty-four are sixteen times more likely to be killed by police officers than that of other groups of people.
The purpose of these images are to undercut the stigma surrounding the subjects. They serve the general public by diversifying the expressions of men of color as an attempt to normalize the association. We are more than angry.
We are not all criminal. We can be soft and hard at the same time. We are human just like anyone else. This is our bodily function.
"Men of color, specifically men of the Latino and Afro American communities are constantly stigmatized. Historically, negative portrayals of these communities, specifically men, have embellished late night television and advertisements. For that reason, it is my belief that these communities are constantly being marginalized as a result. It is our belief that images are a way to expose people groups to the idea that we are composed of an array of complex emotions just like everyone else."
