In March 2020, New York City shut down all non-essential businesses due to the uncontrollable spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus.

It seemed odd to promote my portrait and fashion photography work during a global pandemic; I wasn’t shooting for the foreseeable future, and I found myself at home with the time to address my archive of over a decade of work with Black male models.

I created a project called BLACK BOYS WITH COLORCHECKERS which simply presented the behind-the-scenes shots of models that I’ve worked with holding a ColorChecker, a panel of swatches used in post-production.

Some of these were old photos — going as far back as 2010 — taken in my apartment in Washington Heights. Some were taken at 3rd Ward and West St. Studios, both now-defunct production facilities in Brooklyn. Some were taken at my current apartment in Bed-Stuy, or at Coney Island, one of the few places that I enjoyed visiting as New York City continued to practice social distancing. Generally these images aren’t shared publicly, but as a body of work they’re interesting to see.

The BLACK BOYS WITH COLORCHECKERS project is my way of celebrating and honoring the Black male models that I’ve worked with over the past decade.