Inspired by Cindy Sherman and Samuel Fosso, each image constructs and deconstructs male archetypes through self-portraiture, using styling and pose to embody, exaggerate, and question these roles rather than document them.
Part of the work is a tribute to Black dandyism and the flamboyant men’s fashion of the 1970s, while exploring the idea of expanding what masculinity is allowed to look like. Glamour is not positioned as a contradiction to masculinity, but as a form of confidence, power, and self-expression. Black dandyism extends beyond fashion, functioning as a form of resistance, visibility, and self-definition. It allows reclaiming identity through style.
Other images introduce hypermasculine archetypes through ski masks, embellished belts, and more rigid posturing. These elements reference stereotypes often imposed on Black men, while simultaneously complicating them through stylization. Challenges the boundaries between threat and beauty, hardness and vulnerability.
A series of collaged self-portraits referencing classical Greek sculpture further repositions Black masculinity within a tradition that has historically excluded it. By aligning these forms with ideals of antiquity, the images assert that Black male identity possesses majesty, beauty, and permanence.
Finally, a set of self-portraits using colored lighting explores more internal states—comfort, expression, sensuality, and suppression. Focusing on emotional texture, using light and color to suggest both freedom and restriction.
Together, the work moves between glamour and grit, performance and introspection, questioning how masculinity is constructed, perceived, and ultimately reimagined.