Artist statement
“Is A Picture Still Worth a Thousand Words” is a project meant to display the many characters I feel as though I have portrayed throughout my life and give a sense to each of the roles each of these “characters” has played in telling my own personal story. I also want to use these images as a way to challenge our perspective of who they perceive people to be when they get a glimpse at them. Trying to break away from stereotypes and show that people can turn out to be whoever no matter what they look like. When it comes to myself, I wanted each picture to have its own voice and give a glimpse into milestones or moments in my life. A certain picture may represent a scenario I was in, how my mindset may have been at a point in time or a certain emotion I was feeling. Each picture completes a piece of the puzzle in displaying what has made me, me. When it comes to the viewer, I also wanted this project to break into society’s perspective of an individual. What do you see me as? What’s your first impression of me? What stereotypes may come to mind when you see me? So often throughout life, we allow others people’s views of us to become our own personal views of us, and we let that fuel our personality and corrupt our individuality. So often, we also give people identity’s based on stereotypes, personal feelings towards a group or race, or just what we see in the media. With using myself as a canvas, showcasing myself in these different outfits, the confrontation you're faced to deal with due to my eyes, and the lack of emotion, I want the viewer to really focus on each difference in the photo and not feel obliged to gravitate towards one or the other. Trying to give light to the fact that people can take many different identities no matter what they look like. What do these images tell you? Is A Picture Still Worth a Thousand Words?
ALL PHOTOS SHOT WITH A CANON REBEL EOS T8I AND 50MM LENS
PHOTOS EDITED IN ADOBE LIGHROOM
“Is A Picture Still Worth a Thousand Words” by MarQuez Ross
the Meanings
A BOY IN THE HOOD
This character represents beginnings to me. I was born and raised in Atlanta, Ga, at what was formerly known as South Fulton Hospital. I primarily stayed near East Point, although I have also lived in many different parts of the city. Like many families in the area, we grew up in a very low-income sector of the city. We also had to move a lot growing up, even having a few stints back in my Grandma’s house. I’ve seen and experienced a multitude of things and moments living in the type of environment that I was in. I’ve gotten involved in situations I shouldn’t have and crowds that I had no business associating myself with. Through it all though, it helped make me into who I am today. I in no one consider myself “hood”, but I am a boy from the “hood” and by no way does that define myself or anyone else from the same environment.
STATISTIC
Growing up as a Black male in America, from the moment you enter this world you are already labeled with a stereotype. From an early age, they plan ahead for the demise of not only yourself but of the people around you. They plan for you to fail and end up in the rotation of Black males who have gone down the rabbit hole of incarceration or death. My mom worked tirelessly to try to keep me from heading down this path. I know I gave her a run for her money plenty of times growing up, and each time I would get caught again for something she would always tell me, “YOU WILL NOT BECOME ANOTHER STATISTIC!”. At the time admittedly, I couldn’t understand what she meant, but once I got older I realized many people don’t make it this far. Many of my peers don’t get to experience this moment, but I did. This character represents something deeper to me than the sheet of paper it came with. It’s a middle finger to the people in high places, who planned for me and those who look like me to fail based on some test scores. It’s a representation of the hard work it took to even get to that point. I can say that I am a high-school graduate.
Hoop Dreams
Just like me, a lot of us grew up with sports in our life. Whether it was neighborhood games, playing at your local YMCA or boy and girls club, or AAU. Sports played such a major role in a lot of people’s lives. I played all types of sports growing up. For many, it was just a hobby or past-time, and for others, it became an outlet for what they were dealing with. For others, it was their way out of the bad environment they were in. LeBron James and Mike Vick are the reasons I became introduced to sports. I wanted to be like LeBron James growing up. Later down the line, sports became one of those outlets for me. Something I could do when I’m having a bad day, I’m not all the way there emotionally, or I need to take my mind off something and just forget everything else. I’m forever thankful for sports. It gave me the mindset to not only dream big but push myself to pursue those dreams relentlessly. This character represents those feelings.
Why cant I?
Many minority groups are centuries behind the majority when it comes to holding high-ranking positions. Specifically, in the black community, we are fed to believe the only way to get to those positions is through rap or sports. A lot of times we’re judged based on our looks and not how we carry ourselves. Sometimes the discrimination is so blatant, that it’s infuriating. We have to fight for those opportunities that others are just handed in, and a lot of the time we operate in those situations way better. It’s not fair to judge somehow on their hair. Young black girls and boys shouldn’t have to cut their braids or locs because the school district thinks it’s “unprofessional” or “not done”. The “Western Standards” on what’s accepted and what’s not are far outdated. It’s time we change the narrative and continue to push ahead and show that we can hold these positions also. This character is about making that push ahead and claiming everything we deserve regardless of what is said.
MASKING THE PAIN
This character represents a time in my life in how a dealt with my battle with how I got through my first year in college. I was going through a hard time and I was doing horrible in school. It was really hard to focus just given everything that was going, and the fact that I felt I had no real purpose for being there. I would stay up till 6 in the morning, sometimes walking around in a city I was not familiar with by myself, with my headphones blasting the saddest music in my ears throughout the night, I would barely eat, barely get up, and most of all repeat this endless cycle for months. I almost flunked out of college and I had just gotten there. I knew I needed a change, but I didn’t know how. That is until I started smoking weed and drinking lol. It helped take my mind off of things and allowed me to truly only care about the bigger picture. I was sort of on auto-pilot. By the end of my freshman year, I was out of my slump and my grades were back where they were supposed to be. I don’t smoke anymore, but I’ll never forget the impact it had on bringing me out of not only my slump but also my shell in such a downtime of my life.
LOVE AND LOSS
Growing up as men we are taught that we have to always be strong. We have to deal with things with our chin up. We have to carry the load all the time. That there is no time to be weak or show emotion because someone else is leaning on us to be strong for them. We are not allowed to be vulnerable. This is a sad cycle for a lot of men. I've had my fair share of dealing with love. The good the bad. Allowing yourself to become most vulnerable and feeling exposed in a way, that scares you more than any near-death experience. Not being able to express your emotions in a healthy way because it’s not something you were taught to do, so you just have to figure it out as you go. Experiencing a loss so deep that it shakes your core, that you cry randomly at the simple thought of it. Being someone’s shoulder to cry on, while you battle trying to hold yourself together at the same time. Not letting yourself ever be seen in your weakest moments because you don’t want people to think they have an upper hand on you. The character represents all those feelings. It’s okay to have feelings. I’m a human. I need an outlet also. It’s okay to be true to my emotions. I am a man.
WHO AM I?
Trying to figure out who you are as a person can be one of the most tedious and frustrating things we go through as human beings. Especially early on through our teenage years and some people well into adulthood. Some of us are scared to express our real selves, speak up for ourselves, or even get the recognition we deserve due to what others could think of us. I’m not ashamed to say I have gone through this struggle also and sometimes I still do. This character represents a depiction of that struggle. Across the forehead of the mask says, “And ur who” shedding light on the inner thought a lot of us share, when asking ourselves, “Who am I”? Up under the eyes say, “Your name” shedding light on the struggle I’ve specifically faced just like other people with getting people to say your name correctly, instead of correcting them when it’s said wrong. Sometimes you get so tired of correcting people, that if they got damn near close you don’t even bother, but you still should. A lady once told me, “Your name is everything, make them respect it. The first way to do that is for them to say it right.” The duct tape over the mouth with the word speak written on it. That stands for nothing more than standing up for yourself and speaking up for yourself no matter what. Lastly, the mask covering up the face is a depiction of that struggle that comes with these situations and defining who you are and what identity you want to display and leave on people’s minds.
Give em Hell!
Has your mama ever told you, “It looked you were up to no good”? That is the embodiment of this character. I wanted to go for a trouble-maker/badass type of look. This was my final result. On a deeper level, this is a depiction of the hell I raised growing up. I was never an overly bad kid, but I definitely had my fair share of mishaps. I’ve been on punishment so many times it wouldn’t even phase me. I’ve gotten so many whooping’s, that they stopped phasing me after a while. I would do things just because I could and wanted to see what I could get away with. Nothing more to it than to raise hell. I’m glad I grew out of it and just was tired of getting into trouble all the time.
COOKIE
I’ve always been a smart kid. My mom made sure I got my education under any circumstance no matter what was happening. I want to thank her for that. For most of my life, I have been surrounded by other elite minds, who strive for the same goal as I do. The pursuit of more education and knowledge. Knowledge is endless and something that can’t be taken away from you. Striving academically has pushed me to strive in other areas and not only set a standard for myself. but a standard for those around me as we all strive to be our best. This character reminds me of Simon from Ned Declassified for some reason, but my message is clear. You can never learn too much.
I AM MARQUEZ ROSS
It all begins with an idea. It all begins with a plan. It all begins with a journey. I’m happy to express I’m thankful for where my journey has taken me so far. I’m excited to find out what lies ahead. I’m nervous to keep stepping forward with every passing day. I know who I am though and who I want to be as I keep going forward. Nothing worth having is ever easy. I don’t want easy. I want to make myself proud. I’m creative. I love to create. So many possibilities out in the world to express myself and show off my talents, I’ll be damn if I ever stop. As the late Jean-Michel Basquiat said, “I am not a black artist, I am an artist.”