Khalil and I had been planning this shoot for the better part of a year. He reached out to me last June and said he had an idea for a shoot that he wanted to explore. He knew that he wanted to use chains in the images as well as explore themes of black masculinity. When he arrived at my studio one morning last month and began to lay out the chains that he brought with him, I immediately recognized that we’d need much more to really make the images work. I suggested that we make a quick run to the hardware store, and he agreed. We ended up leaving the store with every inch of chain that they had.
While we were out we picked up lunch, and when we got back to my studio we sat and ate and chatted. We talked about coffee (he’s an expert on everything related to coffee). We talked about art and music. We talked about the shoot we were about to do. He gave me a bit more insight about his inspiration for the chains. He described the expectations that have been placed on him by society to be more masculine or more black or less black, etc, etc, etc, and how he wanted to push back against them. After hearing more about his story and getting a better idea of his motivation for the shoot I said I thought it’d be good to lean in to vulnerability and shoot without a shirt.
We started with a setup shooting through the chains as a barrier. He explored a range of poses that mimicked those made by female subjects. After we established a solid look with the lighting and overall vibe we explored other chain configurations. I really liked the visual metaphor of broken chains and so we switch to a top-down setup and arranged the chains in a couple different configurations.
Afterward the shoot was over and I began to color grade the files I decided to convert the images to black and white and adjust the luminance levels until his skin had a beautiful glow to it. I also recalled our conversation about the Tarell Alvin McCraney play/movie, “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue”, and I decided to tone the images blue.
The older I get the more I’m learning to slow down in all walks of life. I (try to) spend less time on screens and more time in my body, exploring the world. I take more hikes. I cycle. I climb. I play with my kids. When it comes to my photography this slowness translates to talking with my subjects more before ever taking a single photo. I ask more questions. I open up about my own struggles and hopes. I wait until the moment to settle on a technique for the session. Even if results in less time to shoot, the images and connections that I make are the better for it.
