I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve expressed my photography mantras, lol. Whatever the amount, here it is once again: it’s been my career-long goal to highlight black people and people of color before anyone else. I of course have love and respect for all, but in regards to my work, the idea was always to highlight my people.
A few days ago I found myself looking at a blank 'New Post' page not knowing what I wanted to share. Then today I remembered: it's Black History Month. I instantly went to my gallery and put together a collage to post on my story on IG, so you know I had to make a blog post too!!
Something I feel I've mentioned here before is feeling as if I don't have any particular style when it comes to shooting. Or at least that's what has been said. I pride myself in not having a "style," though. I like the idea that I can accomplish any type of shoot necessary. However, I do tend to shoot a lot of the same things day after day, month after month, without ever noticing that I'm doing it.
Last year I had a few weeks stretch where my focus was the back of black women's heads. I'm always so intrigued by women's hair styles. I love how different they all are and how similar they can be from one woman to the next. Afros, curls, braids, cornrows, ponytails, buns etc. If I came across a black woman, I wanted a picture of her hair. Lol
I imagine a lot of photographers go through this but it takes me making a post like this one to realize how much I focus on the same things when I’m out shooting. Hair isn't the only thing that intrigues me, I have a genuine attraction to the images of every day life. Sometimes it's the woman with 'BRONX' tattooed in front of her ear, sometimes it's the BMX rider on the train, sometimes it's Louis Mendez and his 70 year old instant film camera. Lol
Whatever the subject, the first thought is always showcasing how beautiful our people are.
The collage has a handful of digital images (this post has one-I'm sure you can quickly identify it lol) but 95% of it is the culmination of my street photography journey over the course of the last year and a half.
So many of these images are favorites of mine. I told myself to pick out a solid 28 photos for the 28 days of February. Not including the collage there is 29! Lol. Tumblr allows for 30 images so I figured why not use em all up!
My loved ones are my favorite people to shoot and so many of them are represented here.
So now, like Senior Love Daddy did in the middle of 'Do the Right Thing' I wanna give a Shout out to:
Rudy, one of my favorite people to shoot, Martine, I miss you so much friend, Che, Antoinette, my beautiful bride, Zairah & Eliza, daddy's two favorite people in the whole wide world, Kal & Malikah, my Jersey cousins, Angie, Victor, love you cuz, Perse, the flyest since forever, Mylez, brousin for life Buddah, Jay, the most laid back hilariously funny cousin ever, Mom, Love you girl!, Mr. (Louis) Mendez, Still working, sir!, Sammi, my baby sister, Nikki, Shane, Omar, Styles & Jada, Ingrid and all the other beautiful people who I've photographed, Thank You!
I’ll never forget the time that my cousin brought her new guy around. He was a young white guy. When she introduced me she said “this is my cousin Eno, he’s a photographer!” His reply was: “yeah I’ve seen his work, he doesn’t shoot white people.” I stood there shocked and quiet. Lol.
In that moment I felt like Eddie Murphy did when he sat with Jay Leno and spoke about the critics review of “Boomerang” in 1992.
It could never be said that I don’t shoot white people. In fact, it could never be said that I DON’T shoot anyone. I’ve pointed my camera at all different people. White, Black, Asian or other. I don’t discriminate and I’m not a racist. But is that the world EYE live in!?
My photography journey began in 2009. Let me tell you how different the world looked 17 years ago.
It was a time post segregation and violent racism yet still a little more white washed than things are today. It was a time when magazines were still king. It wasn’t rare to see black people on covers but it wasn’t the priority for any magazine that wasn’t intentionally and particularly black. For example, Lil Wayne graced the cover of hundreds of Hip Hop magazines but even in a suit you’d NEVER see him on the cover of Esquire or GQ. Today that’s different but it wasn’t always that way.
2009 is the year I turned 22. Meaning I had 22 years of white media being put in front of me with very little highlights of black people. Even in fields where black people excelled. It was this thought that began to shape the photographer I wanted to be.
By the time I picked up my camera I had already been thinking socially. I thought to myself: “There’s so much media in the world and very few outlets that are dedicated to Blacks and Hispanics. Yet, not only are we capable of anything anyone else is but the whole world jacks our swag. So why can’t it be us on the cover of ‘Vanity Fair’ and ‘Vogue?’ Why can’t we be centerfolds for kids to rip out and hang on their wall? We’re good for more than just rapping and sports. We deserve our place in this world of media.”
And with that, Eno Bull Photography was born. My vow was not to exclude anyone but to make damn sure I included us!!
The world looks a little different today. Here we are post ‘Black Lives Matter’ and the worldwide awakening that social media has brought up. We all have our own platforms and the power to promote whatever we want.
No matter how long I live, how long I do photography or how many different eras come and go, I’m going to continue to promote and highlight my people above any others. All are welcomed to Eno Bull Photography, I will work with anyone who is respectful to me and others around them. I’ll never turn anyone away (at least not for the color of their skin) but I’m always going to look to my people first.
So maybe I do have a style. Maybe there is something particular that I shoot more than anything else. Maybe you’re not a fan, maybe you are. The bottom line is and always will be: when it comes to me and my work, I’m always gonna put my people first.
I want us all to remember that “Pro Black ≠ Anti White”
Happy Black History Month! ✊🏾
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