Collaboration as a Feminist practice: Black women through my lens
By Blya Krouba
Notable contemporary Artist Mickalene Thomas once said “Beauty has always been an element of discussion for Black women…Out of necessity, Black women have always had to consider others’ perceptions of a certain beauty ideal, just starting with the skin color”.
The camera has been a tool in de-human-izing, discriminating and oversexualizing Black women. It is time for us to narrate our own story and celebrate the mundane of everyday life in peace.
I see my artistic practice as a platform to advocate for a group of people who are often overlooked or taken advantage of. Black women are three times more likely to die post pastrum than their white counterparts. According to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database, over half a million people were reported missing in 2021. Of those missing from those cases more than 70,000 were Black girls, more than 90,000 Black girls and women. Too many of us are kipnapped, go missing and die from city to city. I work with my models, to tell our stories beyond those realities.
My models are not professional models, they are everyday people from my communities. I don’t aim to educate, I aim to share stories and empower Black women who are at the bottom of the power structure created by society. However, I understand that my photographs can educate and start conversations among individuals who don’t identify with the group of people who I represent through my work.
My short-term goals include graduating from the University of Houston with my MFA. I want to have the opportunity to collaborate with other people while having a platform to talk about my work on a local and international level. In the long run and even now, I want to be pushed and expand myself as a scholar. I realize that one of my weaknesses is that I am not in conversation with scholars who are or have been doing the same work as me. I believe it is important to collaborate, as I believe collaboration to be a feminist practice.
My artistic practice contributes to my community because the themes that I work on are specific, thought-out, concepts that combate imposter syndrome and historical trauma. Black women need a safe space, Black women need to connect. Black women need to just be without having to explain themselves. I am able to create this space through a therapeutic photo experience, a process that allows us to take steps forward healing from inheritage trauma and on-going racism, colorism and microagressions.
2 responses to “Collaboration as a Feminist practice: Black women through my lens”
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Funding has been provided by California Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Krouba, I really love your work. Your essay reminds me of some current conversations about the white gaze in photography and how it has affected the portrayal of Black women (e.g. Simone Biles and Ketanji Brown Jackson). The second picture evokes so much tenderness through the embrace of the models. It also reminds me of a scene in the movie Daughters of the Dust. It’s a beautiful achievement to pose critiques of the portrayal of Black women while also amplifying their beauty. I look forward to meeting you and learning more about your work.
Byla, the warmth and light on skin in your photos is so beautiful! In the first photo, the model’s presence is very strong, even though her face is invisible in shadow. This and your post made me think about identity without individualism as well as the give and take of public engagement. I like how you say, “I don’t aim to educate, I aim to share stories and empower.” It reads to me that you are holding on to the narrative and power of your work instead of doing it purely in service to or in response to others. Your work might engage audiences whose disempowering gaze you are correcting, because it is publicly available, but they are not centered. In the second photo, paint covers some of the sheen on skin, but warmth radiates from the models’ closeness and the peace and comfort in their expressions.
I agree with you that collaboration is a feminist practice and also a culture-building practice. This sounds like an emerging method for transforming a culture that tolerates missing Black girls. The city where I live has a very high rate of child sex trafficking and exploited girls are disproportionately Black. We have an organization founded by survivors, MISSSEY, that creates safe spaces for girls and women, both space in the form of a drop-in-center as well as legislative and policy space to reduce trafficking and support survivors. One of their dreams is to create housing space as well. I hope this fellowship is a chance to think about what collaboration around creating safety and safe spaces for Black women could look like. Thank you for sharing your amazing artwork with us.