Social History / Ajamu X
Ajamu X’s 10 ‘Fierce: Bristol’ portraits to go on display at Martin Parr Foundation
Ajamu X is a darkroom and fine art photographic artist whose work has been exhibited internationally, and is held in collections at Rose Art Museum, Massachusetts; Neuberger Museum of Art in New York; Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow; Autograph ABP, Tate Britain, Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Arts Council of England.
Since the 1980s, his creative preoccupation in image-making has been a celebration of Black queer bodies. Rather than a focus on documentation, many of his photographs capture a sense of beauty, eroticism and pleasure.
“A lot of my thinking is around how work by Black queer photographers is always pulled into identity thinking and representation” he muses.
is needed now More than ever
“I don’t think that a lot of the conversations around Black queer work actually talk about the ‘photograph’ as an object, usually just the content and that content has always got to do some kind of socio-political work.
Edson Burton. From Fierce Bristol, 2024 – photo: © Ajamu X
Cassie Agbehenu. From Fierce Bristol, 2024 – photo: © Ajamu X
“I think I’m more interested in, not necessarily how we think about the photograph, but how we feel the photograph.”
Over the course of the last 12 years, Ajamu has been working on Fierce, an unfolding archive of portraits made in London, Toronto, and now Bristol – with 10 new portraits commissioned by Martin Parr Foundation to be displayed in the MPF gallery from July-September.
The project began with a clear vision in mind: to address the lack of aspirational images reflecting the richness and diversity of the Black LGBTQ+ lived experience, and to capture and amplify the next generation of culturally influential Black Queer figures in society.
Julius Reuben. From Fierce London, 2013 – photo: © Ajamu X
Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor. From Fierce London, 2013 – photo: © Ajamu X
“In the 1980s a lot of your African-American queens were always saying ‘it’s fierce’, everything ‘is fierce’, meaning it’s great, it’s better, it’s something else” Ajamu explains.
“And what comes out of how we’ve used the word fierce amongst Black queers is that it refers to something that is slightly extra, that’s not always visible. But you sense something and that’s what I’m trying to capture – a Black queer energy.”
The Bristol portraits include Edson Burton, Travis Alabanza, Myles-Jay Linton, Cory Stewart, Cassie Agbehenu; all of whom have made contributions to Black queer historical and current narratives within the city.
Travis Alabanza. From Fierce Bristol, 2024 – photo: © Ajamu X
Kelechi Molokwu. From Fierce Bristol, 2024 – photo: © Ajamu X
Ajamu photographed the sitters from a makeshift studio at Martin Parr Foundation. The resulting images were made with a delicate paper stock, lending an added fragility and fine detail to the final prints.
The Fierce: Bristol exhibition will bring together for the first time portraits made from each chapter of the unfolding project.
It will also feature screenings of The Homecoming, a 1995 film made by Ajamu’s long-time collaborator Topher Campbell in the run-up to his debut exhibition in his hometown of Huddersfield.
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Fierce: Bristol by Ajamu X is at Martin Parr Foundation on July 3-September 21, with a free exhibition launch party on July 10 at 5-8pm. For more information visit www.martinparrfoundation.org.
On September 17, marking the final week of the exhibition, Ajamu X will be in conversation with Mark Sealy for Exquisite Provocations (further information to be announced).
All photos: Ajamu X
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