This story is taken from the Winter/Spring 2025 issue of Another Man, which is on sale internationally now. Order here:
“I grew up in a home where art was really appreciated. By the time I reached my teens, my mind was expanding and my imagination was becoming more active. I longed to find a way to express myself. I started reading a lot of books at a very young age and wanted to become a writer, so I began writing short stories. Around the same time, I started taking piano lessons and wanted to make my own music, but I was longing for something more expressive.
“My mother collected fashion magazines which were always lying around the house. These got me interested in photography, along with books by Diane Arbus and August Sander that I discovered in a library. However, it was a book about bike culture by Karlheinz Weinberger, published by Scalo, that made me want to become a photographer.
“My camera gave me the opportunity to introduce myself to people and explain what I was doing. While it opened doors for me, the camera in and of itself was not enough. It was a combination of having a legit agenda and being sincere. People want to know that there is a genuine interest in their lives.
“Cocaine True Cocaine Blue by the photographer Eugene Richards was a big inspiration for me. The book delineates a lurid world of drug addiction in two housing projects in Brooklyn, which is pretty shocking. Nan Goldin’s photographs of marginalised individuals were also an inspiration for me.
“While [my camera] opened doors for me, the camera in and of itself was not enough. It was a combination of having a legit agenda and being sincere. People want to know that there is a genuine interest in their lives” – Rulx Thork
“I Give You Power is a series of photographs about urban street life taken in the borough of Brooklyn, beginning in 2005, but the theme of coming of age is the main focus. The project was inspired by a chance encounter with a very popular 17-year-old gang member named Jamal who let me photograph him and his friends back in the summer of 2005.
“The title of the project, I Give You Power, is a play on the title of a 90s rap song by Nas, I Gave You Power, which is an allegorical narrative about urban street life told from the perspective of a gun. The aggressive beat of the song, the profanity throughout the lyrics, and the imagery depicted in the original video might suggest that it glorifies violence, but the truth is that it is an indictment of violence.
“I believe that art can provoke and educate and consequently lead to change. I plan on working on other projects that focus on urban communities and the issues within them. I want to address these issues in my work and send the message that there needs to be a change for the better.
“I will always be interested in people in urban environments. I feel that their stories are important. Their stories are the American story. And someone has to tell them. That is my goal” – Rulx Thork
“America is an incredibly diverse country culturally. It is getting even more diverse as time goes on. Against that backdrop of cultural diversity, every group’s story is important and my work is a reflection of that.
“There are so many stories to tell. The world is changing. The neighbourhoods that I photograph are aggressively being changed through gentrification. The Brooklyn I photographed when I started this project is very different to the Brooklyn I see today.
“I will always be interested in people in urban environments. I feel that their stories are important. Their stories are the American story. And someone has to tell them. That is my goal.”
I Give You Power by Rulx Thork is published by Little Big Man, and is out now.