Often men don't think about the fact that hands brush and saliva is shared in the male bonding ritual of passing marijuana, said Trinidad and Tobago-based Jamaican photographer Marlon James.
James examines this ritual in his 90-second video and four photos that will be part of the upcoming Kingston Biennial: Pressure. This is not his first time at the exhibition: he has been showing at it since 2012.
Taboo subjects are often the focus of his lens. The epicentre of his work is subjects like people who bleach their skin, random strangers in bars, portraits of people who cut themselves (inflict self-harm), and people who drag. (Drag is a gender-bending art form in which a person dresses in clothing and makeup meant to exaggerate a specific gender identity, usually of the opposite sex.)
James has a body of work which includes what he did with now-famous Jamaican novelist Marlon James at his graphic design firm, James Hill Design, in Jamaica. He worked with the other Marlon James from 2004-2010.
[caption id="attachment_960987" align="alignnone" width="683"] TT-based Jamaican photographer Marlon James will show a 90-second video and four still images as part of this year's Kingston Biennial: Pressure. The exhibition runs from June 26-December 31. Photo by Sureash Cholai[/caption]
James calls TT home these days. He moved here nine years ago for love, but that did not last. James was also a part of the 2010 Alice Yard exhibition Shot in Kingston.
He was once again invited to be a part of the biennial, which will run from June 26-December 31. He won't be in Jamaica for the opening
but hopes to be there in July. The subjects of his work in this year’s exhibition are from TT but address the broad topic of Caribbean masculinity.
Most Caribbean people might associate the word "pressure" with the hardships of everyday living, but James examined pressure in the form of men being vulnerable with each other.
He considered the pressures of men being open about intimacy and of being emotional without being called names. His work looks at this through the interaction between a young man and an elderly one.
[caption id="attachment_960976" align="alignnone" width="819"] A portrait from Marlon James' exhibition Blackout is featured in Jamaica's National Gallery. Photo by Marlon James[/caption]
There is a layering of emotion that happens when men smoke and talk, James added.
“The intimacy of how the hand might touch and graze one another does not seem any way homosexual. In Jamaica, we are very much anti-man. For me, when in those circles, men get asked questions about if you bow (perform cunnilingus). And if you do that, you’re told, ‘You can’t smoke with we.’
"So all these kinds of things, men were testing you to be a man.”
[caption id="attachment_960985" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Photographer Marlon James focused on Caribbean masculinity for the upcoming exhibition, Kingston Biennial: Pressure. Photo by Sureash Cholai[/caption]
In this male circle, young men are told what they should and should not
