Mark Clennon’s Photographic Duality
(right) Model: Sasha Payton, Styled by Erica Boisaubin, Makeup Artist: Jaleesa Jaikaran © 2019 Mark Clennon Creative, LLC
(left) © 2019 Mark Clennon Creative, LLC
Mark Clennon grew up in Pensacola, Florida and quit his corporate job after the realization of the limited upward mobility for black employees. After picking up his first camera in 2016, he now pursues photography full time. Clennon has worked in editorial and commercial photography for large corporate names from Essence Magazine to Nike and Netflix. However, more recently, his photographs have shifted narrative from widespread commercial appeasement for all viewers to a striking, visual platform for black pride and culture.
The photographer’s images of the Black Lives Matter protests and demonstrations across New York City have caught the attention of the nation. Clennon attends the events dually as a participant and a photographer, which allows him to imbue his own particular view on the greater story as America reaches its precipice for justice. His desire is to bring to light the accounts of the black individuals still being lost to brutality and racism. He also hopes through his recent documentation of such events, that black creatives like himself are empowered to speak their truth and lend their voices and perspectives; to have their own authority and take ownership of that.
© 2019 Mark Clennon Creative, LLC
His photographs have always captured the permanence of black stories, however. From empowering the hairstyles and expressiveness of black women through fashion photography, to documenting the arrest of his protesting friend in New York, Clennon’s work comes during an era where minority voices of every shade and of every orientation are demanding to be heard.
(right) Model: Fredrique Wills, Styled By: Hayley Culp, Makeup Artist: Mitch Yoshida © 2019 Mark Clennon Creative, LLC
(left) © 2019 Mark Clennon Creative
His now “iconic” photograph of the gentleman standing before Trump Tower, fist raised in solidarity with those around him, perhaps best exemplifies the culmination of the nation’s current state of social unrest. And himself being an active participant in that protest, he felt a pull–an obligation– for a black individual to physically preserve the narrative unfolding around him. The American flag, gilded and inaccessible to the mass before the tower, allluding to the idea of “freedom for all” remaining just that: an idea.
Even in Clennon’s seemingly more subdued and passive pieces, capturing black models in prominent clothing, imparts a tone of cultural dignity. For example, there is an image of an African model standing before a public housing building brandishing the colors and tones of the Haitian flag. The interconnection between the fight now in America and then in Haiti is not misplaced by Clennon. The photograph itself, however, transcends nationality: images such as this one offer a way to resonate with groups who have fought for basic human rights. Just as the Haitians were able to emancipate themselves and to rise up in a place where they were oppressed by their government, so too does a similar outcome rest in the faces captured by Clennon’s more recent work.
CJ Hart, STATE MODELS © 2019 Mark Clennon Creative, LLC
And in time, Clennon’s photographs will come to be regarded as historical records much like the iconic ones during the Birmingham civil-rights era, where protestors faced the brutality of fire hoses. His documentation of this moment of our history humanizes the faces of the individuals who strive for those same basic rights, paying homage and lending credence to those past stories.
You can view more of Mark Clennons work here
