This story originally appeared in Up + Rising, a celebration of extraordinary Black voices, and is the first chapter of i-D’s 40th anniversary issue (1980-2020).
i-D chronicled over 100 activists and artists, musicians and writers, photographers and creatives, in Atlanta, Baltimore, Minneapolis, LA, London, New York, Paris and Toronto.
“I believe in my very existence and my being. I am a physical representation of questioning all that we know. Questioning gender, time, sex, money, food; all of these ideas that we’ve been fed. I represent a questioning of all of those things. My appearance is confronting to many and many don’t wish to see it because I represent everything and everyone. To look at me is to see the parts that you might not yet have accepted.
The whole journey starts with self love. Seeing yourself in others, understanding that we are one. So you must treat others the way that you wish to be treated; with love, with kindness, even in what could be perceived as your worst day. The same amount of love you would show an innocent child. The same amount of love you must show to yourself and others.”
Credits
Photography Jermaine Francis.
Photographed on Holloway Road, London, N7.
Casting Samuel Ellis Scheinman for DMCASTING.
Casting assistance Alexandra Antonova.