Essentially, photographers are story-tellers, and photo essays aim to tell us stories with pictures instead of words. This post we look at photo essay work from Digital Photography student Hagar Wirba.
What It Means To Be ‘Me’| Hagar Wirba
It is true that there has been a misrepresentation of African people in media and popular culture. The existence of our bodies in media has been dehumanizing, and contributes to feeding anti-Black propaganda and sentiments.
As a Cameroonian-Nigerian woman, I bring a unique perspective to the world of art in Kelowna, and I find it is my privilege and duty to challenge these anti-Black ideas through the celebration of the various, intricate forms of expressions of individuality and identities by Africans.
My intention is to capture the diverse expressions of humanity by African bodies. The complexities, the depths and layers that are not highlighted enough. This Project is also important to me because I want to bring just as much light to people who look like me, celebrating and happy in all their humanity.
Being Black means many different things to many people. Colour is only a part of an identity, not the whole.
Photography by Hagar Wirba
