Your Lonely Battle Was not in Vain

I'm just gonna be upfront. This is my signature portrait. It's called: 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐢𝐧. This photograph “happened” to me more than it was “taken” by me. When I saw the scan it instantly felt like I was looking at myself. Not in the physical sense, but as a visual representation of my current state of being. The faded hair, sunken eyes, asymmetrical t-shirt sleeves, hunched posture - on the surface these elements serve as subtle visual clues. For one, the model existing in this white void takes the feeling of being a black man constantly surrounded by white spaces and leads it to a visual extreme. The disillusionment of knowing that all that you see is not representative of all that there is. These elements were the first clues to the true identity of this photograph.   The title's red herring. It's not some vague reference to black suffering, it’s a quote from 2011 anime "Hunter x Hunter" based off Yoshihiro Togashi’s 1998 manga of the same name. It’s a brutally oppressive line delivered with by Meruem, king of the Chimera Ants to Isaac Netero, 12th Chariman of the Hunter Association. Spoken right before Meruem's final attack - having just granted Netero the “compromise” of saving a small portion of humanity for feeding rather than a complete wipe-out as a reward to Netero for being the first fighter to pressure him. The title isn’t describing black pain. It’s the words of an oppressive force spoken seconds before the annihilation of those it oppresses. The faded hair, sunken eyes - these elements revealed themselves to me as a specific moment in time that we as black people, and I as a black man understand. Before Meruem's final attack, Netero laughs at his naïveté. Though critically damaged, He says “You know nothing of the bottomless malice within the human heart” before launching a spiteful attack representative of all the wrong humanity is capable of, thus ending Meruem. The look in this photograph is the look one gives before unleashing bottomless malice. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙇𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝘽𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙒𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙑𝙖𝙞𝙣 2023 Mamiya RZ67 ii Kodak Portra 400 assisted by: Julia Moffa model: Terrell Hines studio: Oh Shoot Studio

• Fujicolor Crystal Archive Professional Lustre Paper
• 210gsm
• Vibrant, fine-grain pebble texture
• Archival: 100+ years on display, 200+ years in storage
• Silver halide, RA-4 wet printing process
• Sizing: White borders do not change size of the print