Quil Lemons Is Tackling The Idea of Black Masculinity in His New Photo Series.

Back in 2017, Quil Lemons posted a photo on social media of himself wearing a constellation of silver stars on his face. An act that was exploring his own identity as a queer black man. This photo would be the spark that ignited his career as a photographer. Soon after, Lemons created a portrait series named “Glitterboy” of black men that were covered in glitter. Shifting ideas of gender expectations and the concept of male beauty. This series went viral and Lemons was celebrated as much as he was trolled, for presenting black men in this way.

After releasing his most recent photo series “Boy Parts” Lemons told Interview Magazine,  “What would Black masculinity look like if it was able to be fully free and not tainted by whiteness if it wasn’t being monitored and policed by that colonialism? My mom looked at it and she was like, ‘They’re obviously gay.’ And I’m like, ‘Are they?’ I don’t think wearing flowers is indicative of their sexuality. Perception has nothing to do with what’s going on in your bedroom. It’s interesting that Black men aren’t allowed to touch femininity at all without being perceived as gay. I thought that was an interesting tension.”

Quil Lemons is an artist that utilizes his creative talent to explore themes that are deeply personal to his own identity and he is unafraid to reflect a mirror of his emotions and thoughts into every piece of work. We look forward to seeing what the young photographer will do next!

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