Rashod Taylor is a US based photographer whose work focuses on tenderness, love, intimacy and Black family life.
How has your lived experience shaped your practice?
My lived experience has shaped a large majority of my practice. Growing up I enjoyed looking at old family albums that my mom would put together, it provided not only context of our current family experience but also the experiences we and our other relatives have lived before us. Having a great upbringing in a household full of love has translated into my work. I am interested in showing tenderness, love, intimacy within the black family structure. At the same time my lived experience either through my own personal experiences or experiences of people close to me have shaped my narrative and learned truths about racism in America. When I make photographs every bit of my lived experience, people I have loved, music that I listen to, history that I have studied and faith that I practice comes out in the resulting images and are part of my art practice.
What are some of your biggest influences and motivations in your work? What issues are you passionate about working on?
Family and history are big influences in my work. I feel that your best photography comes when you photograph what is closest to you. For me that is my family and documenting our experience which in part translates to a broader exploration on Black family life. I would also say History, and how it has informed the present and its ramifications on the future. I am passionate in exploring racial injustice its origins and how it is woven into the framework of American society.
Can you talk more about the series with your son, ‘Little Black Boy’?
Little Black boy is a series documenting my son as he grows up and me as a father helping him navigate his childhood. I also explore my own insecurities and vulnerabilities regarding fatherhood and raising a black son. I share our family experience which is unique to us but also it explores aspects of a universal experience that most Black Americans have in one form or another. I confront enduring prejudice, injustice and racism in America in these images but also show love, tenderness and intimacy in these family pictures.
Where are you based and what excites you about the creative community around you?
I am based in Springfield, Mo. The creative community has been very welcoming to me as I am newer to the area, and I am excited to explore it more.
See more of Rashod’s work HERE
