Andrew Harris
Harris
Middlesex School｜Concord, Ma
TEACHER: Roan Callahan
2-D Art and Design
Andrew Harris｜27.5 x 19 in.
Idea(s): The images celebrated each subject individually while also encouraging the viewer to question why these individuals’ stories are frequently marginalized
Material(s): LED Panel Lights. Black Backdrop. Adobe Photoshop.
Process(es): Work closely with subject to identity how they want to portray and celebrate their Blackness.
I shot on the Canon Rebel T5i and edited with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. This project would not have been possible without the help of Roan Callahan, my art teacher.
Student statement
Student
statement
It’s been eight years since I left Liberia. I remember I had a neighbor who I spent the days with. I remember we danced buttnaked in the rain, shot water guns under the sun, and laughed endlessly under the stars. I remember promising him that one day I’ll take him to America or “small heaven” as we called it. But I don’t remember telling him goodbye when I left. I don’t remember his name, I don’t remember his voice and I don’t remember his face. He’s one of the many things I’ve forgotten in my eight years of assimilating to the U.S. I’ve lost my culture and I’ve lost my voice. But I hope, with this project, I can yell into the sky the guilt I feel, letting the wind carry my voice across 4,000 miles of water, to a place I once called home and let a long-lost friend know, I have started my search for our culture. I have started a search for my voice.
MXFAM: MY VOICE. MY POWER.
MXFam is the affinity group for Black/Latinx members at Middlesex School. At one of our meetings, a member asked the group, “What does MXFam mean to you?” We felt that MXFam is a way to distinctly express ourselves without the social burdens of our non-Black peers. We felt that we are often grouped and ignored at Middlesex as individuals. There is a lot of diversity within the Black/Latinx community.
Inspired by that meeting, I took portraits of all 59 members of MXFam, including myself.
For each image in the project, I worked closely with the subject to identify how they wanted to individually portray and celebrate their Blackness. These personality shots aimed to clearly display the variety of experiences, cultures, and identities that make up the silent minority of Middlesex. The images celebrated each subject individually while also encouraging the viewer to question why these individuals’ stories are frequently marginalized. Along with the portraits, I asked members of MXFam to write short bios expressing what it means to be Black/Latinx for them. I exhibited the images along with bios in our school's gallery throughout Black History Month that year.
Andrew Harris
Andrew Harris
