Text by Zun Lee, Chi Ossé. Interview by Kalen Allen.
Sumptuous and tender portraits of an empowered Black queer experience
Eric Hart Jr.’s black-and-white photo series presents more than 70 portraits focusing on the notion of power as it relates to the Black queer experience. Begun in 2019, When I Think About Power investigates and expands the contemporary reimagining of men through themed chapters. “I'm fascinated with the intersectionality and the layers of what it means to be Black in the modern day,” he has said. “From masculinity, queerness, to dress, I strive to utilize image-making in a way that displays people like myself in all of their power and all of their beauty.” Hart's approach stems from his own journey toward self-acceptance growing up in Macon, Georgia. By visually exploring the differences and similarities between himself and the men who surround him, studying the words of Black queer icons and researching the visibility of power in eras such as the Ming dynasty or ancient Egypt, Hart has created an iconography of a power that so many queer individuals seek. The work of Brooklyn-based photographer Eric Hart Jr. (born 1999) has been published in Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, the New York Times and i-D magazine, and has been praised by artists such as Beyoncé and Spike Lee. Hart is a two-time Gordon Parks scholar, a 2022 Forbes 30 under 30 Art & Style choice, and in 2020 was named one of Men's Health magazine's “20-year-old mavericks changing America.”
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Hart excavates his own ideas about what it means to be a man and what it means to be powerful while offering imagery that departs from much of what he had been seeing in contemporary visualizations of Black masculinity.
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Monday, February 12 at 6:30 PM, the Center for Black Visual Culture at NYU presents photographer Eric Hart Jr. in conversation with journalist Emil Wilbekin for a discussion of Hart's book When I Think About Power, published by Damiani. The evening will feature a discussion of When I Think About Power, followed by a book signing with Hart, where the book will be available for purchase. continue to blog
Sunday, June 25 from 5–7 PM, Lucian Books and Wine presents an evening with When I Think about Power author Eric Hart Jr. Published by Damiani Books, this beautiful black-and-white photography series presents more than 70 portraits focusing on the notion of power as it relates to the Black queer experience. Purchase tickets and complete your reservation here. *Each ticket includes a signed copy of When I Think about Power, a brief artist presentation and reception. Beverages will be available for purchase. continue to blog
Monday, May 15 at 6 PM, Rizzoli Bookstore presents photographer Eric Hart Jr. in conversation with Elliott Jerome Brown Jr. about his new monograph When I Think about Power, a collection of sumptuous and tender portraits of an empowered Black queer experience, published by Damiani. RSVPs are encouraged. Seating is limited and will be first come, first served. Doors open at 5:30 PM. Can't attend? Order your signed copy here! continue to blog
“Every day of my life I’ve been called my father,” photographer Eric Hart Jr. writes in When I Think About Power, his first major monograph, published by Damiani. “And while I’ve watched my face mature into a replica of his, watched my beard fill in the same way his sits, and grew to a height tall enough to see him eye to eye, there are certain characteristics I could never seem to match. The stride in his walk, the tone of his voice, but most importantly, the pride in himself. The type of pride that exudes a certain confidence, a certain power. Growing up as a queer black man in Southern America, power hid from me. Almost like a game of hide and seek. I searched and searched. Followed the tracks of others. Tracks that led me to pews of judgment, in between sheets of temporary satisfaction, and ultimately to a place of always questioning who looked back at me in mirrors. It wasn’t until this search led me to photography that I began to understand this person. Through photographic expression I have begun to find my own tone of voice, my own stride, my own power. This collection is an expression of my journey." continue to blog
“Every day of my life I’ve been called my father,” photographer Eric Hart Jr. writes in When I Think About Power, his first major monograph, published by Damiani. “And while I’ve watched my face mature into a replica of his, watched my beard fill in the same way his sits, and grew to a height tall enough to see him eye to eye, there are certain characteristics I could never seem to match. The stride in his walk, the tone of his voice, but most importantly, the pride in himself. The type of pride that exudes a certain confidence, a certain power. Growing up as a queer black man in Southern America, power hid from me. Almost like a game of hide and seek. I searched and searched. Followed the tracks of others. Tracks that led me to pews of judgment, in between sheets of temporary satisfaction, and ultimately to a place of always questioning who looked back at me in mirrors. It wasn’t until this search led me to photography that I began to understand this person. Through photographic expression I have begun to find my own tone of voice, my own stride, my own power. This collection is an expression of my journey." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 8.5 x 11 in. / 144 pgs / 60 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $55.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $77 ISBN: 9788862087889 PUBLISHER: Damiani AVAILABLE: 5/16/2023 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA LA
Published by Damiani. Text by Zun Lee, Chi Ossé. Interview by Kalen Allen.
Sumptuous and tender portraits of an empowered Black queer experience
Eric Hart Jr.’s black-and-white photo series presents more than 70 portraits focusing on the notion of power as it relates to the Black queer experience. Begun in 2019, When I Think About Power investigates and expands the contemporary reimagining of men through themed chapters. “I'm fascinated with the intersectionality and the layers of what it means to be Black in the modern day,” he has said. “From masculinity, queerness, to dress, I strive to utilize image-making in a way that displays people like myself in all of their power and all of their beauty.” Hart's approach stems from his own journey toward self-acceptance growing up in Macon, Georgia. By visually exploring the differences and similarities between himself and the men who surround him, studying the words of Black queer icons and researching the visibility of power in eras such as the Ming dynasty or ancient Egypt, Hart has created an iconography of a power that so many queer individuals seek.
The work of Brooklyn-based photographer Eric Hart Jr. (born 1999) has been published in Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, the New York Times and i-D magazine, and has been praised by artists such as Beyoncé and Spike Lee. Hart is a two-time Gordon Parks scholar, a 2022 Forbes 30 under 30 Art & Style choice, and in 2020 was named one of Men's Health magazine's “20-year-old mavericks changing America.”
