In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests, Sepuya is calling for donations to organisations which support civil rights, queer rights, housing advocacy, voting rights and ending mass incarceration in exchange for one of his photographs
In response to the Black Lives Matter protests happening in cities across the USA and the world, Paul Mpagi Sepuya has launched a fundraising initiative via his social media channels. The photographer is offering a print in exchange for a donation to a number of charities whose work focuses on civil rights, queer rights, housing advocacy, voting rights and ending mass incarceration.
Writing on Instagram to followers with the means to make a monetary contribution, Sepuya says: “I strongly encourage you to make a donation that reflects your capacity to give. Suggested donation amounts are $250, $500, $1,000, and upwards.” The organisations he is calling for donations to – a minimum of $250 to receive a print – are: Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, CURB Prison Spending, Fair Fight, LGBTQ Fund and the National Bail Out Fund.
Launched earlier this week, the campaign has raised over $80,000 in a matter of days. Sepuya is asking those who donate – the amount can be spread across more than one organisation – to email their receipts to solidarity@paulsepuya.com. Prints are made by Document, Chicago, a gallery which represents Sepuya and has held solo exhibitions of his work in recent years.
The photograph on offer was taken in 2020 in Sepuya’s signature style: his camera and tripod take centre stage with partially obscured figures, entwined, in the background, all stood before a black curtain and seen in a large mirror with a slightly smudged surface. At its core, Sepuya’s photography prioritises a queer, black gaze, examined through layers and surfaces within his studio-shot images.
Speaking earlier this year in conversation with designer Grace Wales Bonner, Sepuya described his photography practice, and how he sees his work as an opportunity to carve out space for a new generation of black creatives, for their voices to be heard and their perspectives seen. “There will be those who come after and I’m sort of building this up for them,” he said. “In all of the dimensions of this black diasporic space, that’s something that we’re always contending with – at so many points in history, the moment you start to build something, you have people saying, ‘oh no, we have to take it away’. So we take the things that are meaningful and important and make them in a way that says, yeah, this is going to last. There’s a future.”
To receive a print, email your donation receipt – minimum donation $250 – to solidarity@paulsepuya.com.
Sepuya’s exhibition A conversation about around pictures is at Vielmetter, Los Angeles, until June 30, 2020.