Cinematography by Abdul Yusef @rounddrop for PHOTO 2024

BLACK AND BLUR is a dynamic project that challenges conventional representations of Blackness, Queerness, and the intersections of gender and sexuality. Through its innovative anarchive approach, it presents Black identity as a fluid, multifaceted narrative shaped by cultural, ethnic, and Indigenous contexts.

The project amplifies the voices of migrant and Indigenous Black individuals, offering a platform for stories that are often excluded from mainstream and historical archives. These narratives, spanning Australia, Ghana, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Senegal, and the UK, challenge reductive views of Blackness, foregrounding the agency of those historically marginalized in both cultural and archival practices.

Central to Black and Blur is its multilingual approach, featuring interviews in Wolof, French, and English, which emphasizes the role of Indigenous languages in articulating culturally specific views on gender expansiveness and self-determination. This approach reinforces the importance of local contexts in shaping identity and offers a counterpoint to Eurocentric frameworks.

Combining medium-format photography and oral storytelling, Black and Blur creates an evolving, living archive—one that rejects the finality of traditional archiving. The inclusion of audio recordings ensures community safety while fostering a personal connection between the audience and the subject. Through its fluidity and ongoing expansion, Black and Blur redefines the archive, serving as a platform for resistance, empowerment, and new narratives around race, gender, and sexuality.

Black and Blur Naarm 2023, was commissioned by International Photo for PHOTO2024.