A brand new sequence by American photographer Nate Langston Palmer (beforehand featured here). Born and raised in Washington DC, Palmer acquired his BFA in images and imaging from New York College, Tisch College of the Arts in 2016. His work examines the collective understanding of masculinity in the US, particularly inside Black-American communities. In “Music of Sons,” Palmer follows a dance crew in Washington, DC that’s made up of a bunch of younger Black males between the ages of 12 and 25. The undertaking paperwork the tradition surrounding their specific type of dance (“Beat-Ya-Ft”) which was created in, and stays particular to, Washington, DC:
“Utilizing dance and artistic expression as its car, the sequence focuses on the lives of those younger males and their distinctive journey into maturity. The work grapples with ideas of masculinity and societal conditioning with the nation’s capital as its backdrop, a metropolis that’s presently experiencing among the most superior charges of gentrification within the nation, and in flip, a fast displacement of Black tradition and group.”
The displacement of long-term Black residents disrupts the cultural community rooted in music, dance and place. The intention behind Palmer’s sequence just isn’t solely to seize the great thing about the group however to supply a commentary on the specter of its erasure. See extra photographs from “Music of Sons” beneath!
