The Unwilling Martyrs: a thematic series of artistically stylised depictions of tropes within the greater collective of the black lives matter movement. Uninhibited and free from restriction, or organisational influence, the editorial infuses the ingenious mind of fashion creative Ibrahim Kamara with the lens work of Justin French. The series is political but not directly, humorous yet undoubtedly dire. The work depicts various characters; the martyr, the patriot, the dutiful citizen and the heroïne. The composition of the imagery adopts a fantasy comic styling.
The intentional decision to use a single male body to depict each character including female and LGBT characters is a direct reflection of discourse surrounding the tendency of the focus surrounding the BLM movement to revolve around black men solely, ignoring the plight (trans)+women of colour face.
The unwilling martyrs, recipients of violence both physical and psychological. The Black Lives Matter movement with its resounding message that is both affirmative and necessary yet cumbersome and suffocating to activists and participants of whom too many are halted by violence and hostility (forced martyrdom in few too many cases).
The movement has a crucial opportunity to integrate itself into political discussion in favour of reform and restructuring of antiquated and damaging institutional norms. Unwilling to be forced into martyrs, our heroes of this series stand tall.
