Richard Ffrench

Richard Ffrench
Composition Book

My work focuses on the representation of the Black body in contemporary visual media. Particularly on how Blackness, masculinity, and vulnerability interact with each other in front of the camera. My photographs portray a more gentle side of masculinity that isn’t considered “normal” in mainstream media by taking a break from the traditional gender roles that stigmatize displays of sensuality and emotion from men. In doing so, I critique toxic masculinity by discarding it. There are ways to depict Black men that don’t feed into the hyper-sexualization of the Black body and the hyper-masculine ideals and stereotypes that have been proven harmful to Black men, women, and society as a whole. Contemporary media that focuses on these notions is unsurprisingly scarce, so I am adding to what there isn’t enough of.