Wilkinson College photo collection focuses on intimacy
Nigerian American photographer Hakeem Adewumi shared photos of Black queer individuals, explaining their importance and his personal inspirations. Pictured above: “Frank and Sani,” photo by Hakeem Adewumi. Photos courtesy of Lindsay Shen, the director of The Phyllis and Ross Escalette Permanent Collection of Art
Sitting in the middle of an almost completely dark room is a shirtless married Black couple. The seated men are holding each other lovingly, with one closing his eyes and resting his head on his partner, who stares right in the viewer’s eyes. The only source of light, which partly shines on the couple, is somewhat obstructed by an unknown object.
This piece, “Frank and Sani,” was one of four portrait photos taken by Hakeem Adewumi, a Nigerian photographer and artist whose work focuses on the intersection of his own lived experience being both Black and queer, recently submitted to Chapman’s Escalette Permanent Collection of Art.
A little over 90 students had the opportunity to view Adewumi’s work during a Feb. 11 Zoom event entitled “Photographing Black Queer Identities,” which consisted of a showcase, discussion and Q&A session moderated by Angelica Allen, the co-director of the Africana Studies minor. The conversation and viewing were hosted by the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences in honor of Black History Month.
"untitled," photo by Hakeem Adewumi
In one photo, an anti-portraiture called “untitled” in which he is facing away from the viewer, Adewumi said he wanted to focus on his hair’s complexity and strength. Hair maintenance has been an ongoing struggle for the Black community due to their hairstyles being historically scrutinized as unprofessional, causing some to adopt European hairstyles.
“I have pretty big hair and it’s something that I had to become comfortable with as I got older,” said Haley Slovenec, a senior English major who identifies as Black. “I definitely was not comfortable with my hair when I was a kid … Maybe that’s why I also loved the piece so much. I kind of saw a reflection of myself in it.”
Adewumi explained he wanted the photo to be about his hair journey, which started after noticing the barbershops he went to tended to be very homophobic.
“This journey was also just me reclaiming my own space — reclaiming self-care as a form of resistance — so we’ve taken the time out … (to) get to know my hair and know what it means and photograph that process,” Adewumi said.
"we were not alone, we were not afraid," photo by Hakeem Adewumi
“We were alone, we were not afraid,” another photo in the collection, was Adewumi’s first attempt at looking at Black queer romance and intimacy. He chose to make it an anti-portraiture so that he could focus on its complexity, as the viewer is unable to see his facial expressions.
“I’m really interested in also complicating how we understand and render Black queerness, because it is not something that we can reduce to sexuality,” Adewumi said.
This photo was one of Bernadine Cortina’s favorites, as the freshman English major noticed how intimate the individuals in the photo were, even with their backs turned to the viewer.
“We don’t get to see what we’re looking at, so we’re kind of separate from that moment,” Cortina said. “There’s something that he mentioned when he was creating his work — that he was working on bearing witness to people’s experiences — and the image struck me most in terms of bearing witness, because it does put us in that removed position when we’re looking at something that’s so intimate.”
During the Q&A session, Adewumi told The Panther that some of his idols include Sojourner Truth, Toni Morrison and James Baldwin.
“Back then, portraits were only reserved for white men, politicians (and) famous people,” Adewumi said. “And here you have this black woman (Truth) who’s a newly freed slave, who not only is photographed but owns her own image — owns the copyright.”
“Back then, portraits were only reserved for white men, politicians (and) famous people. And here you have this black woman (Truth) who’s a newly freed slave, who not only is photographed but owns her own image — owns the copyright.”
Adewumi told The Panther that he originally wanted to be a photographer for National Geographic. His cousin had loaned him a camera, allowing Adewumi to venture into the world of photography. He took a photojournalism class at the University of Texas at Austin, but later decided to major in Africana and Africana Diaspora Studies, which he feels was a better choice.
“I wanted to be the guy that was in the weeds, photographing the very rare worm that only comes out once a year,” Adewumi said. “That was me. I wanted to be that person until I started to actually do photography.”
"style and substance (2)," photo by Hakeem Adewumi
Escalette Collection Director Lindsay Shen and Chapman University alumna Jessica Bocinski, the collection’s Registrar, organized the event after the Escalette Collection received a gift from the Ellingson Family, who wanted them to buy works from Black artists. Faculty members were then asked to recommend creators. Allen, a classmate of Adewumi’s from the University of Texas at Austin, endorsed his work.
“When (Allen) proposed that we looked at Adewumi’s work, we just felt it was very moving,” Shen said. “His work really touches on so many subjects that students at Chapman are interested in. There’s art history, there’s photography, there’s American history. His work just was so rich.”
The Escalette Collection is currently working on a collection funded by a grant through the California Arts Council and their Veterans in the Arts program. The collection will contain work created by veterans in photography, printing and paper cutting workshops. The Escalette Collection is also compiling works and artists for the upcoming Wilkinson event, “Engaging the World: Leading the Conversation on Environmental Justice.”
