Congratulations to Rashod Taylor whose Little Black Boy series was acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Three photographs from Taylor’s ongoing project have entered the MFAH’s permanent collection. Taylor uses the frameworks and methods allied with the history of fine art portraiture to contemplate his own family’s narrative within contemporary America.

Taylor’s subject came naturally: first time father documents the life of his son. As images perhaps first intended for the family album added up. Taylor recognized weight in recurring themes and engages them. Taylor’s Little Black Boy series is an intimate and subtle record of the Black American experience brought through the eyes of a father and his son. Taylor reflects on the foundational current of his own work in an interview for LISTO:

Ultimately, I want to keep the conversation going in terms of the black experience and elevate the depiction of black life which has been very much one sided by media and in the consciousness of America. I see many possibilities for my son, and I want these images not only to capture who he is and what he can accomplish but to show that black children have bright futures and can make an impact despite having a handicap that other children simply don’t have based on the color of their skin.

Taylor’s series promises gravity through time and intention. The photographer designates the beginning of what has become the long-form photographic series in 2018 when his son LJ was about three and intends to continue it until LJ reaches adolescence or asks to truncate the project. The collaborative aspect of this work is likely to grow as the serial photographic project continues. The unspoken kingship and love unique to the father-son relationship is strong, but the thoughtful negotiation of their emotions together transmitted to us, now palpable, will certainly heighten in time.