Khalik Allah
Frenchie with Hoodie, 2013
Estimated Value: $4,000

Pigment print
14 x 21 inches
Unframed
Edition 4/9
Signed in ink and editioned in pencil on print, verso
Donated by the artist, courtesy of Gitterman Gallery.

Khalik Allah is a New York-based photographer and filmmaker who practices Camera Ministry with an eye as open as his heart. The resulting work has been described as "street opera" and noted for its beautifully visceral humanity.

After a number of short films that reflect relationships formed through portraiture, Allah advanced his artistry with the feature length documentary Field Niggas (2015), shot at nighttime on the corner of Harlem's 125th St. and Lexington Avenue. This corner also served as the basis for his first photography book Souls Against the Concrete, published by University of Texas Press in 2017.

Allah continued with Black Mother (2018), an ecstatic expression of reverences and realities across Jamaica. This award winning film has been seen in festivals, museums and schools around the world; further released in the UK and the US through distributors Dogwoof and Grasshopper Film. Khalik is currently at work on his second photo book from 125th and Lexington.

About the Artist:
Khalik Allah

Khalik Allah (b. 1985) It is easy to walk through a city not making eye contact, but for Khalik Allah this contact is essential. He sees each individual he photographs. And his photographs in turn allow us to see them, to acknowledge who we might ignore, to look through Allah’s eye and into theirs, and to recognize them as individuals. This is the power of Allah’s work: to give us a deeper sense of people as people, to share and enlighten, even when the message may not be easy.

This work as well and those from his book, Souls Against the Concrete (University of Texas Press, 2017), were made at night on 125th Street and Lexington Avenue in Harlem. They provide a glimpse into a world and people that many choose to ignore. His subjects are often drug addicts, homeless, or both as with Frenchie, a Haitian immigrant who Khalik befriended.

Using only the available light from shop windows, street lights, or subway platforms, he photographs with a slow color film, a combination that produces images full of grain and texture, a visual shorthand for the roughness and intensity of life on the street, and his own struggles early in life. The light is also often harsh or even surreal, resulting in figures awash in blues and reds. Luc Sante, in The New York Times Book Review, wrote "The result is a panorama of human emotion: sadness, passion, bewilderment, pride, suspicion, amusement, exhaustion — all the faces of the night."

Khalik Allah is also a filmmaker whose work has been championed at numerous film festivals. His 2015 film, Field Niggas (inspired by Malcolm X's 1963 speech, "Message to the Grassroots”) received high acclaim and numerous awards as did his 2018 film Black Mother. He also served as one of the cinematographers for Beyoncé's Lemonade and directed videos for members of the Wu-Tang family. Most recently, Khalik was nominated for membership to Magnum Photos, the prestigious photography agency and artist collective.

Press:
The Camera Ministry of Khalik Allah

Website: khalikallah.com | gittermangallery.com
Instagram: @khalik_allah | @gittermangallery