Alex Black YOUNG + RESOLUTE

Alex Black is constantly on the lookout for people who use fashion as a means of selfexpression. When someone catches her eye on the street, she approaches him or her and asks if they’d like to be photographed in her studio in Bushwick, Brooklyn. “It’s not just about getting their photos, it’s about getting to know them as people,” she says. “I find bringing them into the studio gives me that space and intimacy.”

If she’s unable to bring someone in, she memorizes their look and re-creates it on someone else. “All styled portraits stay true to the model, considering they are also a unique individual,” she says.

The portraits belong to her series “Young+Resolute,” which she began in the fall of 2016. At the time, she was working toward her MPS at the School of Visual Arts; she has since graduated, and is making her living photographing for magazines such as i-D. In this series, her subjects are shot against earth-toned backdrops, and, like Renaissance-era portraiture, a rich history about each subject is contained in their facial expressions, the style of their hair, the way they turn their torsos toward the camera.

Black has thus far only shot subjects in New York, though she plans to scout for portraits in Montreal, Los Angeles and Tokyo in the upcoming year. She envisions the series more as a blog than a book. “If I make it into a book, it will feel finished, but for me this work will never be finished.”

—Brienne Walsh

Photos © Alex Black alexblackphoto.com