Introduction to the Project

For this semester’s senior thesis show, the idea that resonated the most was to create a body of photographic work that combined light and color with emotion. My plan was to take seven portraits of African American men and women that showcased our shared feelings/experiences through expressions and monochromatic lighting.

The images are placed in order to show the range of positive and negative emotions that nearly all black people have experienced in their lives; the seven Pantone colors I used are in the septagon to the left. The main purpose of this collection is to inform those unfamiliar, or ignorant, to the challenges that black people face in a predominantly white society.

My series was inspired by the work of Carrie Mae Weems and how she effortlessly captured raw emotion.