Lost in Genesis
Lost in Genesis delves into the exploration of gender and sexual fluidity amongst celestial beings. In the beginning, before the advent of constructs, love existed in its most authentic and sincere form.
This project extends beyond conventional notions of gender and sexuality in the portrayal of angels, aiming to accentuate the history of inclusivity among black and queer individuals during the renaissance and romantic period. Lost in Genesis was produced to capture the essence of the love that has always included celestial queerness. Demonstrating that celestial beings embodied a primal and unfiltered manifestation of affection, a mode of expressing love that we fall short of. This collection of images was captured through the years 2020-2023.
Lost in Genesis was an idea, an argument that as a child I would bring up to my family. It began with the gender of angels and how we know they were male, and that later spiraled into a broader argument that I carried on for years. One year after creating and completing my first concept for Lost in Genesis, the 2020 pandemic hit. I couldn’t help but reminisce on my military service and what I learned through that experience. It's no surprise that as a black man I endured countless acts of racism and homophobia based on my perceived sexuality. I was quickly categorized as homosexual to my fellow shipmates and often hazed because of my different cultural background. This experience taught me that everyone has an untold traumatic story that they crave to be heard, and I knew that the final two concept ideas had to heighten the importance of black lives with the introduction of black angels. The models that I chose for this project are part of the Queer community. Some of them were personally rejected from religious establishments due to their gender and sexual orientation and others were ridiculed by peers close to them for similar reasons. It was important to me to choose models that were not only a part of the queer community in some way but had a story they were unable to tell.
In Lost in Genesis, each concept is bestowed with its distinctive name, like the chapters in the Bible, intricately woven into the narrative of two celestial souls transcending barriers to find and share their profound love. The first concept intimately unites two feminine celestials, its journey mirroring the transient beauty of golden hour - a metaphor for the fleeting nature of time. The following concept, crafted in-studio, encapsulates the poignant image of the masculine angel cradling the feminine angel, a distressing depiction of being so close yet arriving too late. Lastly titled 'Final Meeting,' this project resides on a farm, where the white horse symbolizes Pestilence - an allegory for the corrosive impact of antiquated views on homosexuality, akin to a pernicious plague infecting society. Just as Pestilence wrought suffering, so too have these outdated beliefs eroded inclusivity. Yet, like the aftermath of Pestilence, the rejection of antiquated perspectives sparks a renewal - a movement underscored by compassion, equality, and acceptance, advocating for the rights of queer individuals.
In tandem with this project, I plunged into the fight for queer rights, broadening my understanding of the biases against the queer community. The deeper I researched, the more impassioned I became - the marches and protests I attended only fueled the fire of determination. For my final concept, I sought to channel this anger, not through hostility, but through the timeless medium of black and white photography. It was here that the metaphor of the fourth horseman, Pestilence, was born - a vessel not only for dismantling archaic societal norms, but for the opportunity to rebuild them anew
