Art

rad creative of the day: atlanta-based photographer joshua rashaad mcfadden explores black masculinity, colorism, and identity with powerful projects

July 29, 2016

Joshua Rashaad McFadden, an Atlanta-based photographer and SCAD graduate. Currently, Joshua’s work centers around the concept of intersectional black identities and the ways in which society interprets and treats them. With his ‘Come to Selfhood’ series, available in book form, McFadden explores what black masculinity by juxtaposing contemporary portraits of his peers with photos of the influential black men in their lives, which is accompanied by personal anecdotes of lessons and gifts passed down through the generations.

In ‘Colorism’, McFadden uses portraiture to examine the incredible pigmentation diversity and beauty of blackness while raising awareness about color-based discrimination and the privileges afford to those with lighter, brighter, European-suggestive features. Check out a few shots from both series’, and McFadden’s ‘After Selma’, below.

In Atlanta this fall? View ‘Come to Selfhood’ at Mason Fine Art Gallery Oct. 1 – Nov. 1 with an opening reception on Oct. 7 at 6 p.m.

By Erin White*, AFROPUNK contributor

Brittonius Keithorn Lyleinus II

Jamel Jones

Matthew Cornwall

Above photos are from ‘Come to Selfhood’

Grace Allison Perkins

Above photos from ‘Colorism’

Above photos from ‘After Selma’

http://www.joshuarashaad.com/
https://www.facebook.com/joshuarashaadmcfadden/

*Erin White is an Atlanta-based writer and AFROPUNK’s editorial and social media assistant. You can follow her on Tumblr or friend her on Facebook. Have a pitch or an inquiry? Shoot her an email at erin@afropunk.com.

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