We’re wrapping up the year by putting a spotlight on young black creatives making impactful work that we couldn’t help but fall in love with.
First up is Imani Hamilton: a 25-year-old photographer focused on challenging the stereotypes and struggles black women face in their everyday life. With a cross between gender identity and fashion at the forefront of her most recent project, we had a chance to catch up with Imani about the series titled “Innuendo”, a special series exclusive to Neu Neu Digital.
See the full project below and keep reading to learn more about the Brooklyn-based photographer.
In your own words, describe what you do.
I am a photographer and cinematographer who captures black women in their purest state. I want to break the stigma that black women are only “good” for the token roles in the industry. I want to challenge the idea that subject black women to roles society deem they are “good” at.
What’s your sign and what trait from that sign describes you most?
This is actually a tough question because I’m an Aries and I think almost all of the things that describe an Aries is true. But a characteristic that describes me best would probably be my courageousness. I’m not afraid of trying something that may seem unorthodox. What may seem different and new to someone else is probably something that I have done or experienced in my life.
Describe home.
Growing up I experienced a lot of relocating because of circumstances with family, and it made me realize that home isn’t a place — as cliche as it may sound. Home is my family, they go wherever I go and vise versa. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love my family.
Tell me about “Innuendo”.
The name Innuendo actually came from my boyfriend who helped me with the name of the project. I knew what I wanted the project to be about, but I always have a hard time coming up with names. Innuendo came from wanting to show a [more] complex view of black women, especially dark skin black women. It’s all about the idea of illustrating the complex idea of black women hijacking what is meant to be masculine in society.
My team was amazing and I appreciate them so much for seeing the vision. From Rashonna understanding my mood board and coming back with the dope styling, Yamata for knowing exactly how I wanted to portray/ present this shoot, Glenn for always coming through with makeup and coming up with amazing concepts, and our amazing model Ling for just being the dope model that she was. My art director Yamata was the one to help me push the boundaries of what I wanted to express with this shoot. We went to college together and always saw eye-to-eye when it came to aesthetics, so I knew she was the perfect person to call for the shoot. I knew that she would be able to pick apart my complex high-wired brained.
What inspired you to create this series?
When you look up the definition to describe masculinity and femininity they are so rigid and specific to those words that it doesn’t leave room for the people who don’t feel like they fit into neither one of those categories/genders specifications. I love that today we are challenging the idea of what it means to be masculine or feminine. In the black community, it is still a fairly taboo topic to talk about. Do you remember the time Young Thug wore a dress on his mixtape cover? That caused the entire community to have the conversation of what masculinity is. I have seen, and I believe that there are people in the black community who are challenging these gender roles and I’m here for it.
Tell me more about the process that went into creating these photos.
Finding joy has been difficult, I won’t lie. I was kind of uninspired for a really long time just because of the lack of contact with the outside world, and the Black Lives Matter movement; I was just mentally exhausted. What helped me get out of that funk was realizing that I’m not the only one going through this, that there are people who probably think that they are alone and I didn’t want anyone to feel that way. I wanted those people to see that they aren’t alone and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. So in short I guess being able to create art where someone can connect to it helps bring me joy.
How do you find joy in such a trying time? What does self-care look like to you?
Self-care is something I’m still figuring out myself, but it’s definitely putting yourself first. As selfish as it may sound you need to be because no one else is going to care for you like yourself. What I do for self-care is working out, my night time face routine, and watching Dashiegames or CoryxKenshin on youtube. They are both hilarious!
What do you want viewers to take away from your work?
My work is for the black girls who feel like they aren’t enough. That is my main priority. I want those little black girls and even black women to know that they are enough for what they want to do, especially if they are thinking about modeling or anything despite their supposed gender limitations set by society. Secondly, I want my work to scream that I may not follow what’s to be expected in the industry but I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing because I want to lead by example.
How do you keep evolving?
This is a tough one because it’s something I haven’t really thought about. I keep evolving by simply informing myself on new topics and staying aware of what’s going on in the world. I feel like the only thing stopping you from being great is yourself. My dad taught me that I should always question what someone tells me. That I should always teach myself and always learn.
If one song could describe your goals for 2021, which song would you choose?
I was telling everyone that I had NO IDEA what song to choose because there are so many songs that just hit home for me. But there is one song that I always think about and it’s “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar. That song came out around the time I was a Junior in college and police brutality was at an all time high in America. Going through the struggle of school and then being presented with videos of police brutality, it was a relief to hear a song reassuring the black community that although we have been fighting for all of our lives, its going to be alright. That’s how I feel about 2021, yes, I have been through an eventful year but it’s nothing I can’t overcome. I will overcome it and I will get my work printed on a magazine.
Photographer: Imani Hamilton
MUA: Glenn Brownell
Stylist: Rashonna Duett
Art Director: Yamata Bernard
Model: Ling (State Management)
