Black in Black and White Photography Exhibit at Seven House Gallery

“Freckled Gaze”, *Black in Black and White*, Abigail Ekue Photography, 2020

NEW YORK – On Saturday, September 28, 2024, Abigail Ekue Photography presents Black in Black and White at Seven House Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. The exhibit will be on view from September 24 through October 14 starting with a press preview on September 24 and 25. The opening reception will be held on September 28 from 6 to 9 PM. Throughout the run of the show, various events will be hosted at the gallery.

About the Exhibition:

Abigail Ekue Photography presents her fine art photography series Black in Black and White in a solo exhibit. The ongoing series features Black creatives and visionaries in dynamic black and white portraits. What started out as a personal project intended for Instagram during Black History Month has grown into a large-scale exhibit.

A curated selection of 48 portraits—created in 2020 to 2024—featuring Black artists, artisans and creatives from various disciplines ranging from music, film, publishing as well as fellow photographers are in this first exhibit. The people featured are all active in their chosen creative fields; fields plural due to multidimensions and varied interests which lead to multi-hyphenate thriving artists. To date, Ekue has photographed Aixa Kendrick, Chris Rob, Cheryl R. Riley, Sinnamon Love, Beau McCall and DeAreisha Mack for Black in Black and White.

B&W photography is a timeless medium to display the array of beauty that exists in the diaspora. The tactile quality of B&W photography makes it a great medium to display the richness and beauty of the subjects' features. “Although I edit the photos in black and white, I do not Photoshop. I don't over process skin or alter faces in my imagery. I want to maintain a rawness, texture. I’ve seen the ancestors in so many faces I’ve photographed for this series. Me being Jamaican and Nigerian, I see the kinfolk in the faces. Can’t deny the diaspora.”

The shooting set-up is minimal; a white sheet backdrop and the available indoor light. The white background was chosen to create a high contrast to the subject. “Except for two, all the artists sat for their portraits in my home. It’s a case of ‘using what you got’ and I think it also allows for the people I’m photographing—some friends, some I’m meeting and working with for the first time—to relax and let more of themselves come through.” That minimalism carries over into the presentation of the work in the exhibit.

Work from Black in Black and White has been sold at Houston Center for Photography and exhibited at B&W Athens Photography (2023). The series was shortlisted for solo exhibition at Athens Photography Festival 2024. “The Right Shot”, Ekue’s image of Chris Rob — Producer. Vocalist. Pianist. Soldier. — was featured in the SHOW US YOUR ACTIVISM exhibit (2022) at Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum (Bronx, NY). In it, Rob wears a T-shirt with the message: Shoot Films Not People. Photographed in August 2020, that summer was emotionally heavy after the murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd.

“The Right Shot” (l); “Original Platinum Blonde” (c); “black.” (r); *Black in Black and White*, Abigail Ekue Photography, 2020

A collectible deck of Black in Black & White custom playing cards was released in 2022.

During the opening reception on Saturday, September 28, guests will be able to meet the artist and artists photographed for the series.

A specialty cocktail will be created for the opening reception by Brunch God Garvey Alexander, as seen on NBC’s Today Show.

Black in in Black in White marks the third artist-curated solo exhibit by Abigail Ekue Photography.

This exhibit is made possible by donations from Rod Hochman.

About the Artist:

Abigail Ekue, born and raised New Yorker of Jamaican and Nigerian descent, is a photographer and curator focusing on gender, representation, and body neutrality. She is the photographer behind the Bare Men series, her claim to fame since 2012. She made her curatorial debut with Bare Men: The Group Show in 2019, providing a platform for the uncensored male nude in photography. Her work has received coverage from PAPER, The Huffington Post, Time Out New York, L'Oeil de la Photographie, WideWalls, Attitude and has been published in The Naked and the Lens (2nd Edition), Hyperallergic, YourTango, Brooklyn Downtown Star along with numerous international publications. Ekue's work has been cited in graduate thesis on vulnerable masculinity, design in independent pornographic publishing, and research on the differences in the depiction of males versus females in fashion photography.

Abigail Ekue Photography has been exhibited nationally and internationally including the Museum of the City of New York, Houston Center for Photography, Erotic Heritage Museum (Las Vegas), The Studio Door (San Diego), BKhz Gallery (Johannesburg), B&W Athens Photography Festival (GR), and various Lusted Men exhibits in France and Belgium.

Abigail brings her conversational and candid style to portraits through editorial, red carpet and lifestyle photography. She has twice been commissioned to photograph everyday New Yorkers for the Community Heroes public art project. She also curates and leads private excursions and photo walks throughout NYC through her company, Native Creative Concierge. https://abigailekuephotography.com/about-abigail/

Exhibit contacts:

Email: abigail@abigailekue.com

Exhibit Link: https://abigailekuephotography.com/blackinbwexhibit

Social media: Instagram - @nativecreative_photo | Twitter/X: @abigailwrites