Rawness used as a tool of empowerment. A shutter that constructs a narrative around the individuals captured. A constant return to documenting the movement of the human form and the beauty of the black body. A visual activism. A visual voice.
Dana Scruggs is a photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her string of victories in the photography profession include capturing Tori Bowie (Olympic gold-medalist and the fastest woman in the world) for ESPN’s 10th edition of their Body Issue. With this editorial Dana broke barriers by being the first black female photographer to have contributed to this issue.
A raw approach becomes a voice for a community and acts to represent and celebrate the black body in all its infinite beauty. The realness in her work showcases individuals in a perspective that is hardly seen but mostly felt. By this I mean that her work translates as an emotion – as an embodiment of the people she photographs.
In an interview with DAILY RITUAL Dana expresses her view on the industry, “Representation matters not just in front of the camera but behind it as well. Brands, mags, & galleries need to look at how they may be feeding into a culture that’s not inclusive of Black women and not inclusive of women of color. It’s not enough to have Black women in your magazine, ad campaign or grace the walls of your gallery. As artists, our voices have been underrepresented and underemployed for far too long. Make the effort to seek us out… MAKE THE EFFORT TO BE INTERSECTIONAL.”
Modupeola Fadugba, born in Togo and now based in Nigeria, is an artist who made a 180 degree turn from her studies in engineering, economics and education. However, these have not left been left behind, with elements of economics and education sprinkled on the conceptual foundations of certain artworks. Fadugba focuses on identity, women’s empowerment and social justice within the sociopolitical milieu of Nigeria. Paint, drawing, burnt paper and installations are the mediums through which she creates her socially engaging work.
Her 2016-2017 series Synchronized Swimmers takes its point of departure from an intimate and innocent memory she had as a child growing up in Lome. This memory was her fear of the sea, its vastness was too daunting and confusing to comprehend. The pools she was exposed to when she moved to the US for a while were less frightening, but her fear of the water remained until faced with compulsory lap-swimming classes at boarding school in England, aged eleven. Her first long drawn lap left her with a sense of accomplishment, and made her realize the water could be conquered. 20 years later in Nigeria she found herself facing another water-related fear, diving. With encouragement from her brother she leapt into the water from the diving board. While these may seem silly, they acted as forms of encouragement for her art, having decided to delve into the art world full time. Fadugba’s ‘pool’ works fall into two series of painting, Tagged (2015-2016) and Synchronized Swimmers (ongoing). Tagged sees a group of young women moving under and over the water in pursuit of a red ball. Synchronized Swimmers on the other hand sees young women clustering their bodies and hands together to lift one another into the sky. The red ball still makes an appearance, but the figures do not pay attention to it. Fadugba’s combination of acrylic, oil and burnt paper give the paintings a mysterious and confusing atmosphere, and yet the figures make the work visually appealing.
‘Synchronized Swimmers’
A second collection of work titled Heads or Tails (2014-2017) sees Fadugba unpack the Latin motto that appears on the American dollar bill – Annuit cœptis.In her artists statement she explains that “the US Mint translates Annuit cœptis as ‘He [God] has favoured our undertakings,’ and the United States’ official motto—’In God We Trust’—emblazoned across the centre of the bill leaves no doubt as to God’s supreme presence. Yet the original Latin could be more accurately translated as ‘our undertakings have been favoured’; there is no direct mention of God, no certainty as to who is bestowing the favour.” With this interpretation Fadugba questions the certainty of who does the watching over, and who receives the favour. Heads or Tails looks at the themes of chance and value and how they determine the course of people’s lives. The series consists of paper painted coins of various sizes, with the faces of Black women appearing on them. These paintings appear on burnt paper. The coins and combined with the title point to the idea of the coin toss, a recurring theme in Fadugba’s work, signaling her preoccupation with luck and human agency.
Her artist statements and explanations of her work channel the creative writing spirits of Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie with their poetic and relatable nature.
To check out more of Fadugba’s work visit her website.
‘Heads or Tails’‘Heads or Tails’‘Synchronized Swimmers’
Staccato stabs erupt between creviced creases of the mountainous form. Backlit by blue skies, institutional columns stem forth. Symmetrical colonial stone is foregrounded by five womxn. The iconic campus of tertiary education was the site of recent student protests – a rupturing ripple that will resist all forms of erasure. The figures stand armed, in formation. Assault rifles extend from arms held high. Donned in a uniform of 70’s chic – highwaisted trousers and cropped shirts. These are The Foxy Five. A living legacy.
Jabu Nadia Newman is redefining the terrain of identity politics in the South African context. As born-free filmmaker and founder of the The Foxy Five she has created a web series that fictions the narrative of five womxn who stand at a metaphorical crossroad – the ideological intersection between race, gender, class, sexuality and other axes of power and oppression.
She says, “I’m interested in showing a new view of what it means to be an African, while being open to the fact that I’m still figuring it out for myself” In this way, the discourse around identity politics is emanating internally – dismantling prescriptive external boundaries.
In depicting the lived experiences of five womxn – expressed visually through Womxn We, Blaq Beauty, Unity Bond, Femme Fatal and Prolly Plebs – Newman reclaims the space of representation – a crucial element in redefining and exploring nuanced conceptions of identity. Shifted modes of power are used in this Post-Colonial context to reimagine an alternative to a white-washed historical narrative.
Using the rhetoric of intersectionality and “Africa for Africans” The Foxy Five march on. A powerful stance is struck; their gaze meets you head on. An assurance in position is executed with military precision. You are left only to stare down a barrel of a gun.
“This time we’re gonna make sure we’re the ones running the shots”
Watch episode 1 of The Foxy Five below.
1 J.Hunkin. (2016) Janu Nadia Newman: Intersectionality with a side of pop culture. Between 10&5 http://10and5.com/2016/06/16/jabu-nadia-newman-intersectionality-with-a-side-of-pop-culture/
