I always wanted my photographs to challenge the status quo, to contest the kinds of images that existed in popular culture.
Dawoud BeyBlack people have been killed for directing their gaze at the wrong person. I want my subjects to reclaim their right to look, to see, to be seen.
Dawoud BeyWhile I have devised various formal strategies for articulating [my] concerns, I think fundamentally the work is driven by a basic curiosity. I seek to find out things about people by making photographs of them.
Dawoud BeyImprovisational things about picture-making... learned from working with the small camera early on have served me well in being able to think quickly when making [portraits].
Dawoud Bey