Black Brown Other is a photo-essay that weighs the burden of being silent. When I was one of five Black creatives at an agency of over 500 people, I was often feeling displaced. Having thought about my own identity was the impetus for this project- I wanted an opportunity to collaborate creatively with people who felt the same. Instead of forcing a sense of strength or power, I needed to express a sense of vulnerability. A collective exhale.

For the project, I spoke with people of color and people in the queer community on their experiences with alienation.

Black, Brown, Other covers what it means to be a dark skinned Black woman in white spaces, trans estrangement within the MoMA, the complications of being white-passing and more. The photo-essay gives the world a look at intimate conversations between POC and queer people.

This project is:
Personal/passion project

My Role in This Project
Creative Director

My personal work creates safe spaces for people of color and the queer community through storytelling and photography. It’s been shown in galleries within Brooklyn and Manhattan. In these projects we come together to discuss experiences of alienation and identity. This visual essay idea stemmed from a feeling of alienation in my personal life. I was promoted at an agency, only to realize that no one else in my company looked like me. It left me thinking about how I could reclaim my identity.

The entire project was Queer/POC run. I worked with a female Cambodian-American photographer, Mel Taing to bring the stories to life and celebrate the strength in vulnerability. All of the clothes were provided by queer designer Neil Grotzinger, of NIHL who has been seen in Paper, Vogue, i-D and more.