#13: Alexis — Photography, Emotional Authenticity, Collage
“You can be fed, but if you don't do anything with it, it's just collecting ideas.”
Meet the secret agents of taste. Learn what lights them up, where they find inspiration, and what they think we should all be enjoying right now. This edition: Alexis Hunley, a photographer and an artist based in Los Angeles.
I met Alexis Hunley in L.A., at a photography show highlighting the work of Black women photographers. As we stood in front of her impressive work, she started telling me about excavating her own history via extensive visual archives her grandmother had left behind.
“Watching this teeny tiny version of me has been profoundly healing,” she later wrote. “Through the archives built by my grandmother and my parents, I have learned so much not just about our family but also about myself — who I was, who I’ve always been, and who I’m growing into.”
Already a successful photographer, Alexis is now debating how to turn her grandmother’s archives into artistic expression. She’s considering a new medium (collage) and is already collecting ephemera to incorporate with meaningful images. I can’t wait to see where her immeasurable creativity goes from here.
Do you think of yourself as a tastemaker?
It's such an interesting question. I don't know that I've ever necessarily thought of myself in that way. But I don't not think of myself in that way. It’s not a question that's been posed to me before.
Well, you have 20,000 followers on Instagram. Isn’t that a signal that you are?
Do you want an honest answer? A lot of those people came in 2020. And a lot of them are not necessarily in community with me in an intimate way. The timing when the mass of these people showed up — June 2020 — was when things started to really hit a head. People were all about Black photographers and showing support.
I don't give much credence to my follower count. It’s not that I don't genuinely feel gratitude and appreciation for the people who do actually support me; it's that I've known that the bulk of that support was performative and not really about me.
On that same note, there have been quite a few people who came during that time, who may not have found me otherwise, who have stuck around and made it clear to me that they enjoy me as an individual and as an artist. For that, I'm really grateful.
For people who aren't familiar with your photography, what’s your style?
My goal is always emotional authenticity. I want to dig deep and root around in what I believe are the things that make us the most human: our feelings. That's what connects us all. That's what inspires us and drives action and changes us. If I can encourage people to navigate their own feelings, new feelings, other people's feelings — even just for the time that they're engaging with my piece — then I feel like I've done something worthwhile.
We bonded over collage back in December. Can you talk about the project you’re working on with your grandmother's photographs?
Just night I was playing around on Photoshop — having that space to be excited about something that I'm not yet good at was encouraging. I started collecting physical pieces, preparing myself for when the moment strikes. Like flowers from the exhibition where I got to show my grandmother's work; I dried them out. I have old scraps of paper. I went through magazines and cut out every letter possible and scanned them all. I have my physical elements ready, and I have them digitized as well, so I can also work on arranging things.
It brings up the same sort of angst that drawing or painting does for me, where I'm in essence creating from scratch — there's always inspiration but it's not like when I'm photographing and there are things in front of me. I might be taking in what is there instead of orchestrating something that I'm responding to… It’s like trying to pull something out of my brain that I'm not visually looking at. It's been an exercise in patience and imagination. But I enjoy it, and I look forward to continuing to play and see how it will give me even better tools to express myself and expand my artistry and my reach.
My art is for myself. I enjoy creating for clients, but the space I've carved out for collage and my grandmother’s archive are very much meant to feed me.
Speaking of that, what are some rituals and routines that you have around finding inspiration and then turning it into action?
It's a little all over the place, but I see things and save them. I'll bookmark things on Twitter, I have my little folders on Instagram and TikTok. I like to go to the library. I love a good bookstore. I really enjoy going to museums and galleries. I love sculpture, the bigger the better. I enjoy seeing other people pushing the boundaries in the fine art space. But even just watching documentaries, TV shows, hanging out with and actually talking to people, just being present..a lot of times, things will start to rise to the surface and start to click into place.
A lot of my peers are also creative, and the next thing, you know, we've decided on a collaborative project, and we're moving forward with something just because we went to dinner. The combination of all of those things is what feeds me and kicks me into action. You can be fed, but if you don't do anything with it, it's just collecting ideas.
So well said. Alright, so what are you into right now?
I am deep in my grandmother's archive, and that's kind of where my head has been.
Descendants of the survivors from the Clotilda celebrate their heritage and take command of their legacy, as the discovery of the remains of the last-known slave ship to arrive in the United States offers them a tangible link to their ancestors.
🎶 “Young Hearts Run Free” Candi Staton
This song immediately makes me think of my grandmother. I imagine sometimes that if she had a song to gift me and my cousins as a guiding light, it would be this. She was always so supportive of each of our activities, hopes, and dreams and really encouraged our individuality and independence. I found some notes from an interview she did with my sister where she was asked: "If you could do anything over again, what would it be?" To which she answered: "Live longer as an independent unmarried person...achieve more career-wise." Knowing my grandmother's story and now being able to witness her talent via her archive, this song will always bring me back to her.
This is just one of those songs that feels good. It's mellow and groovy and I can listen to it all day on repeat with ease.
A good friend of mine brought Baby Rose into my life and I haven't been the same since...the weight in her voice. The depth. It's a full-body, ethereal experience like I'm being sucked through a portal. Trying to describe how her voice hits me almost does it a disservice.
It's so soothing. Jamila Norman is a farmer / consultant in Atlanta and she goes around and helps people create sustainable gardens in their backyards. It's just so good and wholesome and enriching! I've learned so much about so many plants and started preparing for my own farm. She's such a likable individual...I always walk away feeling so nourished.
The best place to follow Alexis is on Instagram.
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In case you haven’t noticed, I love people with good taste! In fact, I have a podcast about it for Flipboard. Check it out!
More Mia’s Queue: Meg • Sadia • Kel • Tracy • Theresa • Vasha • Eva • Sarah • James • Adi • Letitia