Sepuya’s works accentuate the intersections of race, gender, and desire within the history of portrait photography. The artist is always careful to note that the fragmentation in his images (the cropped limbs, hidden features, and uncertain relationships between body parts) is not arbitrary; rather, it is the result of deliberate decision-making. At the same time, the confusion of positions—Where is the camera? The model?—forces us to confront our own perspectives.

Gallery label from

Being: New Photography, 2018

Medium Inkjet print
Dimensions 51 × 34" (129.5 × 86.4 cm)
Credit Fund for the Twenty-First Century
Object number 492.2017
Department Photography

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