Photography by Black American Photographer LOLA FLASH



Through portraits in her work titled “[sur]passing”, Lola Flash (love the name!) explores how Black folks around the (modern) world experience what the brilliant W.E.B. DuBois coined as “the color line.”

Lola poses her subjects in front of the gritty, metropolitan backdrop of London, New York and South Africa. It’s amazing how each photograph delivers visual cues about the person’s social identity, style, personality, history and even a bit of their life experience. She’s able to get a raw expression from each of them – this is the true aim of portraiture.

Excerpt from Lola Flash’s artist statement:

“[sur]passing is based on a series of larger-than-life color portraits that probe the impact skin pigmentation plays on black identity and consciousness. Primarily due to the melanin count of their skin, light and dark-skinned blacks’ opportunities can differ enormously ranging from overt favoritism to extreme alienation.”

See her EnFoco artist page and her personal website to view more photos.

Lola Flash was also chosen to be in the first Silverstein Photography Annual from September 8 – October 13, 2007.

Photo: Karisse © Lola Flash

+ There are no comments

Add yours