Adrian O. Walker and Curtis Taylor Jr. in conversation

What it means to be a Black creative today

Thursday, August 13, 2020
6:00 - 7:00 PM PST

On Thursday, August 13th SF Camerawork was pleased to present an online artist talk with Adrian O. Walker and Curtis Taylor Jr.. AOW and CTJ expanded on their journeys as black creatives during COVID and the continuation of tragedies as it relates to black bodies.

ADRIAN OCTAVIUS WALKER is a mixed-media artist based in Chicago, IL by way of St. Louis Missouri. His work is inspired by the Black body, dynamics of the Black family, and archival work related to the African American experience and the untold stories they share. Working in both film and digital-format photography, Walker creates penetrating portraits influenced by his deep awareness of the nuances that pervade the human experience. His greatest milestone to date is being one of the prize-winning artists in The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today Competition currently on display at the National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Walker is currently represented by pt.2 Gallery Oakland, Ca.

CURTIS TAYLOR JR.  is a director, academic and imagemaker from St. Louis based out of Atlanta, GA dedicated to building worlds with people of color at the center through fiction. Always having had a passion for film, Taylor used his collegiate experience as an opportunity to leverage access for underrepresented voices as a bridge between education and creativity. After completing his B.A. and Master’s in Education at the University of Missouri, Curtis then went on to build worlds with companies such as Instagram, Facebook, GIPHY, Leo Burnett Chicago, Red Bull, Shea Moisture, and more. Most recently, Curtis served as Director of Photography at Buzzfeed Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, CA, with a portfolio that spans disruptive, viral campaigns. Curtis is a next-gen filmmaker and academic who strives to use his gaze to move the needle, liberating underrepresented voices everyday. What keeps him going is the ability to build a world tomorrow that yesterday never had.

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