Rebecca Arthur
As a Black American, my Black identity has always been at the forefront of how I present myself to the world, and my ‘Blackness’ has continuously been the subject of my photographs. During my time in Paris, France, as a Fullbright scholar, I noticed the difference in the way the French apprehend identity compared to Americans. As a result, my identity has been shattered and reshaped. Throughout our history, many stories of Black people and families have been lost in archives - never to be seen or mislabeled to conceal something. I’ve come to recognize the importance of documenting and preserving our history, stories and physical affective gazes. Through dialogue and photographical storytelling, I want to understand the dichotomy between the ways race and identity function cross-culturally and gather an idea of how descendants connect or disconnect us from our sense of self and belonging.