IT’S NOT YOUR STORY

During my first visit to New York City, in June 2008, I was struck by the level of racism and social and sexual prejudice towards black men. I went back two times since, because I felt the need to photograph black men in a way that showed them as unique personalities, as individuals. In the media and arts black men often get represented as stereotypes, they get tagged with labels like thug, athlete, entertainer, rapper, criminal, sexual predator, hung, muscular, masculine.
However, other than that, these are also portraits on New Yorkers, regardless of their ethnical background, living their lives in one of the most dynamic and demanding cities in the world.

I worked with a 4×5 inch view camera. Working with a large format camera requires a high level of concentration and involvement from both the photographer and the model, due to the complicated technical aspects of this process. This added to bonding with my subjects, who I, in most cases, hardly knew.

One man, who I asked for posing for a portrait, after explaining my motives, responded by saying: “it’s not your story”. He felt my series of portraits was a parade of black men, created by a white man, which he did not want to be part of.