Skip to content

Kevin J. Watkins

Listen as Kevin J. Watkins and Russell Ihrig explore relationships between Watkins’ Arrest the cops that killed (insert name) and Lorna Simpson’s print, Counting.

 

Kevin J. Watkins' Arrest the cops that killed (insert name), a series of black and white photographs of African Americans in protest. The center photograph is a close up portrait of an African American police chief in uniform

Kevin J. Watkins (b. 1983) United States, Arrest the cops that killed (insert name), 2020, inkjet prints (photographs) mounted on composite board, courtesy of the artist; center image courtesy of the artist and Cincinnati Magazine, © Kevin J. Watkins. Photograph: Rob Deslongchamps.

Previous Next
Lorna Simpson's Counting, three black and white photographs aligned vertically. The top photo appears to be an African American woman from her upper lip down to her chest. The middle photograph is an old brick hut with a cone shaped roof. The last photograph appears to be the top of the woman's head, her hair braided in a circular fashion.

Lorna Simpson (b. 1960), United States, Counting, 1991, photogravure and screen print, The Albert P. Strietmann Collection, Courtesy: Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, 1991.264

Previous Next
About the Artist

I am a self-taught professional photographer from Oberlin, Ohio specializing in lifestyle portraits and events. I began my photography journey about 7 years ago on the recommendation from a close friend after he took a closer look at what I was capturing on my camera phone. I then began using a DSLR with no goal in mind other than to capture the world around me. My focus eventually shifted towards portraits and events, and more recently telling black stories from our point of view. I’ve lived here in Cincinnati since 2001 (right when the “riots” happened) and remember consuming news from mainstream media and not from anyone of color. Today, with so much social injustice and the murders of unarmed black men and women, I feel it is very important for me as a photographer to document as much as I can.

 

Submitted September 2020