Shawn Theodore_, Oluchi Oneya — Li ka wè nan rayi ou_, 2018
Printed on Hahnemühle Rag Paper
60 × 40 in
152.4 × 101.6 cm
Courtesy Shawn Theodore/ PARISTEXASLA
Self-described as “an interdisciplinary artist who incorporates photography, collage and sculpture to create afromythological environments, photographs and objects.” one begins to understand the fascination and awe behind [Shawn Theodore’s](https://www.instagram.com/_xst/?hl=en) work. Shawn’s works are getting the recognition and celebration they deserve, as he was recently commissioned by Apple to do a series of photos for MLK day. Flaunt Magazine had a moment to catch up with the Philadelphia based artist ahead of his Photo LA installation with downtown based gallery [PARISTEXASLA](https://paristexas.la)
**There is a regal tranquility that resonates with the onlooker when taking in your photographs, I’m curious as to what three feelings set in you when you take in one of your finalized portraits? When it’s up for a display in an art gallery, do you ever find yourself having a ‘pinch me’ moment?**
That’s an interesting question, thank you for asking it. Most of my photographic images, especially the ‘Afromythological’ ones, start out in my process as a vision in a dream… My three feelings that come to mind are, ‘love’, ‘pride’ and ‘reverence’. When I’m surrounded by my work in galleries, I think back to when I was a child, how badly I wanted to see my work on the scale that I produce now.
**If you were to choose one of your photos to symbolize what the world is according to you?**
It would be a personal portrait, one that I made last Easter in Miami. It’s my daughter standing in front of the palm trees, holding her candy basket wearing this adorable dress as she’s looking out to the ocean. To be five years old again, alive with wonder. This was a moment that will always stay with me. It was true magic.
Shawn Theodore_, The Salon of Oluchi Oneya and Leenos The Forgiving_, 2018
Printed on Hahnemühle Rag Paper
60 × 90 in
152.4 × 228.6 cm
Courtesy Shawn Theodore/ PARISTEXASLA
**What is the most visually empowering photograph you have ever laid your eyes on?**
The first photo to ever empower me was by Don Hogan Charles, the first black staff photographer to be hired by the NYTimes. His portrait of Malcolm X for Ebony magazine where Malcolm X is peering through his blinds with the rifle in his other hand is so powerful in many ways. I was inspired by both men, both were revolutionaries, excellent communicators, both driven to serve their community.
**The collaboration with the Showtime series _The Chi_ features these visceral images where the characters of the show are surrounded by flowers amongst an accentuation of their profiles. When doing these types of photographs, do certain scenarios, landscapes, or settings come into your mind for how you’d like the trajectory of the photo to turn out?**
For my commercial projects, I enjoying using these opportunities to highlight the agency and image of Black people. No matter the assignment, my first order of business is ensuring that my individual subjects and overall subject matter is elevating my community.
**What are you most looking forward to in displaying at PHOTO LA for the Los Angeles audiences to come and see in person?**
I think it’s great to get people away from screen-sized art, I love it when people are engaged with a large print and the details that are missed on devices.
**You recently shot Colin Kaepernick for the cover of PAPER magazine, is there a certain way you like to approach these images that you know will have a staying factor for years to come? Or is it all an ‘in-the-moment’ process for you?**
I really enjoyed working with Kap, he was really receptive to my concepts. A lot of people would be surprised to know how much input he had. He’s got a really sharp eye for design and composition. He and I had a similar sense of aesthetic coming into the shoot. We both wanted to create ‘monumental’ types of images, iconic shapes from the figure, bright colors, deep silhouettes. I generally come into every project with plenty of drawings, reference materials, sometimes a collection of articles, books. I take the research that goes into my work very seriously.
Shawn Theodore_, Sè Nan Pye Bwa A Pichpen_, 2018
Printed on Hahnemühle Rag Paper
60 × 40 in
152.4 × 101.6 cmCourtesy Shawn Theodore/ PARISTEXASLA
**One of my favorite photos of yours is “Three Moments of a Nawlins Son”, how did the vision of this particular photo come into fruition? How were you able to get the subject in this angle, as if he is basking into the onlook of the future?**
Thank you. I was in New Orleans for the first time last year and I was fortunate enough to be on a street where a Second Line was approaching. It was amazing. I was swept up into the crowd and did my best to shoot a video of the whole experience. When the Second Line reached the highway entrance, there was a group of boys who were already there following an older man who was precariously dancing on the edge of the onramp, at least 20-25ft above the street. In the first portrait, the boy is looking at the man. He’s in awe. The second and third photos he’s watching the crowd as they are looking up. It feels like he’s making a cause and effect connection. I was able to get these photos with ease, he wasn’t paying much mind to me or what I was doing.
**Do you have any other young, Black photographers whose images you have recently grown to admire?**
Yes: Danielle Morris, Dominique Nichole, Aysha Ray Walker, Laurent Chevalier, German Vasquez, Terrell Halsey… all of them inspire me.
**Is there a photo of your work that is most representative of growing up in Philadelphia, how did the city shape you into the artist you are now?**
I would have to point to ‘Boy with Balloons’ might be the best image to describe my personal story of growing up Philadelphia. My life in Philly has always been about art, color, pride in one’s self, self-discovery, and overcoming the underdog status that often comes with being from Philly.
**Absolutely fell in love with the NIGHT STARS photos you took for New York Magazine, this marriage between tonal blues and beauty of embracing blackness, how did the marriage of these colors come about?**
I have to give my friends at NYMag, Marvin Orellana and Jody Quon, a huge thank you for entrusting me with this project. They approached me with this assignment and I ran with it. I was in a headspace at the time where I was studying the cyanotype and the effect of the process on brown skin. I’m incredibly happy with the outcome of the work. I might continue the series for another exhibition this fall.
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Shawn Theodore will be on display at [PARISTEXASLA](https://paristexas.la/) as part of Photo LA at Barker Hanger from January 30 - February 2, 2020
[Get tickets here](https://www.photola.com/)
