"Workers" is a studio portrait series depicting sex workers who are open about what they do and independent in supporting themselves with this work. These studio photos are meant to be used by the subjects to promote or advertise their services online or otherwise.
This collection is inspired by Chinese Landscape paintings where nature is BIG and humans exist as small blips alongside.
For this project I provided pro bono photo services to small, local business owners in order to help them promote their businesses to the broader community.
This multi-media series depicts re-enactments of pivotal moments in my subject's grandfather, Clarence Edward Smith's life. Clarence, also known affectionately as Put or Puddin by close associates, Clarence 13X in the Nation of Islam, or Allah as he renamed himself, is the founder of the Five Percent Nation or Nation of Gods and Earths, a school of thought aimed at uplifting and educating the Black American community in Harlem by way of historic lessons and scientific facts. One man's legacy is retold through the lens of his grandson and related back to an esoteric numerology system called the Supreme Mathematics that the Nation of Gods and Earths use to decipher personal daily meanings. The series explores how the past informs the present in the context of the spaces that Clarence occupied in his lifetime. The oral histories shared through audio will contribute to the archive of information already out in the world about Clarence but this time with the unique perspective of his grandson. More than anything this project is a chance for a grandson to reclaim his family narrative and tell his side of the story for the very first time.
http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:123158256/sounds.rss
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-gods-life/id1268330507?mt=2
0. Cipher. 120 Knowledge, 120 Wisdom, 120 Understanding. Everything in existence exists as part of a cipher. Clarence was assassinated on his way home to his wife, Dora. He died at the age of 41. He has attained life after death through his teachings and legacy.
1. Knowledge aka Man. Accumulation of facts through observation, learning, respecting. Also known as MAN. Through his experiences in the war, the streets, and more, Clarence gained knowledge.
2. Wisdom aka Woman. Wisdom is knowledge acted upon. As water is vital to life, wisdom is vital as building blocks in ones own life. Dora, Clarence's wife, led him to the path of wisdom and discovery by introducing him to the Nation of Islam at Temple #7.
3. Understanding aka Child is the application of 1+2. Love is the highest form of understanding and there is no higher form of love than that for one's child. Clarence was "the father" to many but he was also a father to his children. They were deeply affected by his death and subsequent absence from their lives.
4. Culture aka Freedom is the way of life practiced, which can be freedom because the greater your knowledge-wisdom-understanding, the closer your culture will be to freedom. Clarence founded the 5% Nation and helped youth who sought the structure, mental liberation, and empowerment of lessons which taught them the knowledge of their history, culture, and selves.
5. Power aka Refinement. Power is a force of creative energy. To refine is to perfect. Wisdom (2) + Understanding (3) = Power (5). AKA the TRUTH. Then Mayor, John Lindsay gave Clarence a school in Harlem for the price of $1.00 a year for 100 years to build on the knowledge + truth with the youth in Harlem.
6. Equality is possessing equilibrium to deal or reach equality with all in existence. 6 is also the DEVIL, equal to man but not to god. Clarence had the ability to transcend boundaries and interact on a equal level with all. He was on the Mayor's Urban Action Task Force aimed at quelling racial riots and keeping peace state in Harlem.
7. God aka Perfection. Love (3) + Culture (4) = God/Perfection (7). G is the 7th letter in the alphabet. God sees with the 7 colors of the rainbow and hear with 7 notes of the musical scale. Allah didn't believe in a mystery god, instead embraced the powers within himself and worked to empower others in realizing the god within.
8. Build or Destroy. Elevating the mentality of others, self, and the planet by allowing positivity to outweigh negativity. While detained at Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, Clarence converted fellow inmates including a white boy who was being abused by the orderly. This boy became a lifelong follower. He turned a negative situation positive.
9. Born. It takes 9 months to make babies. The number 9 gives birth to itself 9+9=18, 1+8=9. Clarence created the 5% Nation later renamed the Nation of Gods and Earths, leaving an everlasting legacy which uplifted youth first across the five boroughs then fast spread across the world through mediums such as music, the visual arts and more. He created leaders by teaching the “babies” discipline, knowledge + love of self.
Portraits of people & objects in various locales.
Farmers in a rural farming community in Lijiang, China are gifted with disposable cameras. The subjects behind the lens are members of the hosting family from grandparents, parents to two adolescent and teenage son. Subjects depict their daily life encounters through photography, a medium often taken for granted because the technology is so available to us through modern technology. Some of the older generation farmers hadn’t ever operated a camera nor and some were not even interested! A camera or two was lost then found again. The film was developed in New York and sent back to the family.
