Mikael Chukwuma Owunna,
a queer Nigerian-Swedish artist raised in Pittsburgh, has spent the
past two and a half years photographing Black men and women for a series
titled Infinite Essence. Hand-painted using fluorescent paints
and photographed in complete darkness, Owunna’s subjects are
illuminated by a flash outfitted with a UV filter, which turns their
nude bodies into glowing celestial figures.
Owunna tells Colossal that the series was his response to the
frequent images and videos of Black people being killed by those sworn
to protect them: the police. The photographer’s friends, family members,
dancers, and one person he connected with on Instagram serve as models
for the project, which is named after an idea from his Igbo heritage.
“All of our individual spirits are just one ray of the infinite essence
of the sun,” Owunna explains. “By transcending the visible spectrum, I
work to illuminate a world beyond our visible structures of racism,
sexism, homophobia and transphobia where the black body is free.”
