Solomon Mabry is an Indianapolis-raised Fashion & Portrait Photographer. His work highlights subjects from an African diasporic descent.
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A lot of the inspiration from this project came from personal life. I’d been let go from a former position prior to the beginning stages of this project. While I wasn’t too happy with the job and was planning to leave soon anyway, I was still surprised that after I'd been let go, I’d felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Despite the fact that my monetary needs were met in this position, it never brought me any actual enjoyment, and it felt good to never have to step foot back in the building. It led to a period of decluttering, in which I sought to unburden myself in many areas of my life, getting rid of what I felt was weighing me down in order to get back to the necessities. This included material items, relationships, & a brief stint with homelessness. But I was able to take more time to focus on what brought me peace & enjoyment. I focused on what I deemed to be more important.
Similarly, the work shown in these images is also about stripping down to the most necessary elements. You might notice the limited styling in the images, or the minimalism in the number of elements in the work. BARE refers to stripping the work down to the core elements that have developed in Solomon’s work; those elements being composition, form, and tone. In each image, you’ll see one or multiple of the elements reflected. A former Professor once posed the question to me, “How much do we need to see in a portrait to understand the subject?”. Within the images here, what are you able to tell about the subjects? Is it effectively communicated?
Each piece in this gallery is printed on metallic paper to enhance the richness and saturation of the image quality, as well as increase the longevity of each print.
