Ekow Eshun

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“Superfine” Unpacks Self-Expression, Resistance, and Status Through Black Style

Elizabeth Way, Kimberly Jenkins, and Ekow Eshun consider what it means to be a Black dandy—and how the figure functions in diasporic culture and history.

Zohra Opoku’s Evocative Reflections on Mortality and Resilience

The German Ghanaian artist weaves together archival images, family photographs, and self-portraiture in works that are often inspired by the city of Accra.

Remembering the Life and Work of Kwame Brathwaite

Ekow Eshun, Tanisha C. Ford, Tyler Mitchell, and Antwaun Sargent on the visionary photographer whose images and activism helped popularize the slogan “Black Is Beautiful.”

Grace Wales Bonner on the Photographers That Inspire Her Visionary Fashion Design

In an exclusive interview, the influential designer speaks about her artistic collaborations with Liz Johnson Artur, Tyler Mitchell, and Paul Mpagi Sepuya—and how she uses images to salute the past and imagine the future.

The Photographers Crafting Visionary Narratives of the African Diaspora

Drawing inspiration from history, legend, and speculative fiction, artists grapple with the legacy of slavery and colonial empire—and conjure images of the “Black fantastic.”
Hank Willis Thomas, You Don’t Have to Try So Hard, 2015

Two Photobooks Consider the Pervasive Fantasies of Whiteness

Working with archival imagery or deftly staged portraits, an array of artists lay bare the sinister underpinnings of white respectability.

Black Balloon Archive

Liz Johnson Artur’s intimate workbooks honor communities across the African diaspora.

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Aperture Magazine

Aperture No. 259

Guest edited by Tanisha C. Ford, Liberated Threads explores style and fashion as a language of Black resistance, refusal, and joy. This issue features image-makers who remix and reimagine twentieth-century “soul style,” creating a contemporary dialogue between photographers, filmmakers, and stylists from around the world.

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