Student: Ervin Alex Johnson
Project: Final Project
Class: Foundations of Photography I (darkroom)

This work is the result of a assigned final project for Foundations of Photography I, where students created a project based on their own interests and goals and showcase their analog photographing and printing skills. Ervin chose to explore his Black queer identity for the first time since coming out. He did so by focusing on the physical beauty of the Black male body, but also through the beauty of touch and physical intimacy.

Ervin went on to complete a project titled “In Honor” which is the second project in this gallery. This was a project for his Senior Thesis, for which I acted as an advisor and mentor. This project explores the violence against the Black community through the simultaneous compassionate treatment and destruction of images of Black folks.