Repping the Underrepresented with Endia Beal

The media play a key role in shaping the manner in which we view certain groups in society. Sadly, for many marginalized groups, the little representation they do receive in the media tends to shape society’s general perception of them.

Honest representations of the lives and struggles of marginalized groups are rarely shown. As a result, such groups continue to be represented by sensationalized media depictions of their populace.

African-American visual artist Endia Beal focuses much of her visual narratives on telling the stories of these marginalized groups, mainly African-American women and their experiences within corporate spaces. Her narratives often contain themes that question conformity and gender roles.

One of her first works “Office Scene” was created while she was working as one of the few women of colour in a corporate office. In the project she asks seventeen men around her office to touch her hair, before documenting their responses about how they felt about the experience.

Her goal was to illustrate the shift in power dynamics that occurs when you provide someone with something they desire in an open public space. The discomfort they experienced mirrored the type of discomfort Beal felt being in an office there co-workers regularly transgressed boundaries in their interactions with her.

She soon followed up “Office Scene” with her next project “Can I Touch It?”, which features a series of photographs of white women with traditional “black” hairstyles.

Another one of Endia Beal’s projects “Am I What You’re Looking For?” started while she was working at Winston-Salem State University, a historically black college and university.

She learnt about the job hunting experiences of many of her students, and the struggles they faced attempting to fit the roles set for them by employers. These experiences reminded Beal of her own ones at a corporate office, and it motivated her to try and shed light on the topic of conforming.

The project features portraits of young African-American women in interview clothes who were photographed in their childhood homes.

Endia was inspired by the works of artists like James Van Der Zee who would photograph Harlem residents using lush backdrops, and looked to provide coverage of the era’s emerging black middle class.

Beal herself grew up in a middle-class family, and often thought about how rarely people from her socioeconomic background were seen in photographs. This is perhaps why she’s dedicated her career to giving a voice to things that are unspoken, and opening conversations in ways that feel safe for people.

The first few works from her “Am I What You’re Looking For” project were published by The New York Times. She has since expanded the series after receiving an Open Society Foundation Grant.

Endia Beal is going to continue amplifying the voices of the marginalized with her visual work. She aims to initiate a conversation around hiring practices, and hopes her photographs can tell the stories that need to be told.