Presenting Possibilities with Artist and Educator @naimagreen

Throughout #BlackHistoryMonth, celebrated during February in the United States and Canada, we’re highlighting next-generation creatives of color who are shaping the future of their communities. Each of the featured accounts was selected by writer, curator and activist Kimberly Drew (@museummammy).

“Naima Green (@naimagreen) has an incredibly generous mode of image-making,” says Kimberly of the Brooklyn, New York-based artist and educator. “She invites each of her subjects to breathe and imagine. In lush landscapes, subjects in the ‘Jewels from the Hinterland’ series are presented in landscapes often denied to black bodies. Many of the figures in the series are writers, community leaders and other photographers, so in one way she presents beautiful images and in the other she presents the possibility for creative change. Her work is like an encyclopedia of dope black people we’ll study in books one day.”

Becoming the Subject of Your Own Life with @delphinediallo

To learn more about her life and work, follow @delphinediallo on Instagram.

Photographer and activist Delphine Diallo (@delphinediallo) has been unpacking her identity her entire life. Born in Paris to a French mother and Senegalese father, she now lives in Brooklyn, New York. “I have always been fascinated by improving my understanding of consciousness through the years,” says Delphine. “All my work is about study.” And her self-portraiture is central to that study.

“Self-portrait is the door where your spirit reveals itself in different forms: the eyes, the attitude, the complexity of the person can be discovered through self-portraiture,” she says. In her work, she feels called to frame herself and her subjects as the protagonist of her own story. “It’s my duty to empower women to understand that they are the subject of their lives,” says Delphine. “As an artist, I want to express the shared connection between all women.”

Sparking Distraction and Connection with Street Artist RAE

To see more of his work, follow @rae_bk on Instagram.

For the Brooklyn, New York-based street artist (known only as) RAE (@rae_bk), the entire city is an exhibition space. “I search for discarded pieces of metal, plastic and other materials that have been left for dead,” he says. “I find beauty in their rust, their wear and tear and their crushed state. I resuscitate those found objects, turn them into sculptures and then reintroduce them to society.”

Beyond the streets, RAE looks for unique indoor street-level spaces he can take over with his paintings, sculptures, installations and most recently, performance art. For almost a month, RAE transformed a vacant downtown New York City storefront into a surreal living room. Under the constant gaze of fellow city dwellers, the project was designed to spark moments of distraction and connection. “Everyone is coexisting,” he says. “We are not always engaging with one another.”

Music, New Albums and Afropunk with @sza

To see more from SZA at Afropunk, follow @sza on Instagram.

SZA (@sza) grew up surrounded by music, but it wasn’t until her early 20s that she knew she wanted to be a musician. “My dad had a super wide range of eclectic tunes,” says the artist, who grew up in New Jersey. “Music was definitely in my house and around me, but never by me.” Fast forward a few years, and that’s all changed — SZA has just released her debut studio album, Ctrl, and is in Brooklyn, New York, this weekend to perform at Afropunk (@afropunk).

“Afropunk is the culmination of every strain of influence I’ve ever encountered in my life bottled into one huge expression,” SZA describes of the festival, which began in 2005 as a documentary about the African-American punk rock scene, and has since expanded internationally, celebrating black music, art and activism around the world. Though she’s attended and performed at Afropunk before, “I still have so much room to grow,” says SZA. “I’m excited to give people what they deserve on an emotional and sonic level.”

The Slow, Simple Portraiture Style of Josh Wool

To see more of Josh’s photography, follow @joshwool on Instagram.

Josh Wool’s (@joshwool) self-described approach to portraiture is incredibly slow and unapologetically simple. Using equipment and techniques that are more than a century old, the Brooklyn, New York-based artist painstakingly extracts his images from a process that begins with photographic plates and developing chemistry that he makes himself. From there, his portraits are crafted from a conversation, natural light when possible and the removal of any extraneous details or distractions.

“The folks in these pictures are artists, musicians, photographers, creatives and friends,” says Josh. “There’s a certain intangible thing that draws me to choose the people I photograph. In most cases, it’s some aspect of their persona — sometimes it’s their strength, others it’s a sense of vulnerability. With others, it’s something I just can’t put my finger on, but I know I need to photograph them.”

The Creativity is in the Cookie with Michele Tanenbaum

To see more of Michele’s cookie creations, follow @lucky_bites on Instagram.

It all began with snickerdoodles. Growing up in New Jersey, Michele Tanenbaum’s (@lucky_bites) health-focused mother wouldn’t allow treats in the house, but Michele managed to trick her into letting her bake cookies. “I convinced her it was creative,” she says. “And everybody has cinnamon and sugar. Snickerdoodles were my go-to.” Looking at the kinds of cookies she now dreams up for her Brooklyn, New York-based business Luckybites — named after her dog, Lucky — that early creativity has flourished. Trained as an apparel designer, Michele first got an inkling to turn cookie decorating into a profession when she was holiday shopping. “I was buying gourmet gift baskets to give to clients, and I realized that I could probably make them better myself,” she says. So, she took to coming up with her own recipes for everything from biscotti to Linzer hearts to thumbprints to sugar cookies. “I started to realize that I liked this way of being creative better than the clothing design.” For Valentine’s Day, Michele says she will be sketching just like she did during her fashion days. “But now I’m doing it with icing.”

Finding the Interesting in Every Day with Samantha Dion Baker

To see more of Samantha’s illustrations, follow @sdionbakerdesign on Instagram.

Samantha Dion Baker (@sdionbakerdesign) wasn’t looking for a career change when she began her daily sketching practice three years ago — but sometimes, change finds you. “Being a mom, the journal was the one thing that I could control and do every day,” says the Brooklyn-based illustrator, who comes from a long line of successful women artists. Each journal entry posted to her account is a combination of drawing and writing about Samantha’s interests and everyday life, whether she is sitting on the sidelines of her sons’ soccer games or strolling through a New York City art gallery or traveling abroad to Paris. Recent illustration clients — ranging from boutiques and restaurants to a couple wanting to commemorate their engagement — have all taken notice. “I really like this idea of a collection, of a record, of what’s mundane but also interesting,” Samantha says. “If you draw it, it becomes interesting. There is always something.”

It’s a Small World After All: Traveling the Globe with the Rapper Oddisee

To see more of Oddisee’s travels, check out @oddisee on Instagram. For more music stories, head to @music.

A few years ago, Oddisee (@oddisee) was on his way to Heathrow Airport when his cab driver, a Turkish man, made a comment that had a profound effect on his worldview: “The world’s a big place and when you travel, you realize how small it is.”

Having performed around the world and paid regular visits to his father’s home country of Sudan, the Washington, D.C.-born, Brooklyn-based rapper has a love for experiencing new cultures and learning more about humanity along the way. “Through my travels I’ve learned that we’re not that different,” he says. “Whether it’s race, culture, creed, religion, most of us are fighting for the same things. The problems, the achievements, the trials and tribulations we face are happening around the world.”

That belief turned into the theme of The Good Fight, his critically acclaimed, thought-provoking 2015 album. As an avid photographer, he decided to document his months-long international tour behind the LP in a unique fashion. For each stop, he’d create a triptych — one black-and-white shot with the city’s name written over it, bookended by two color photos that create a cinematic montage-like effect for his feed.

“I wanted people to go back and look at the entire tour,” he says. “I wanted to find a way to let fans know I have been to their city, I performed there or I experienced the town in some way, shape or form. Someone would say, ‘Shame I missed you’ or, ‘Can’t wait for you to come back.’”

Oddisee originally got into photography six or seven years back, starting with a point-and-shoot and improving his gear as he grew more in love with the hobby. He makes sure his camera is “glued” to him so he can capture all the interesting things he sees while walking around before gigs or traveling from city to city. “We’ll look at where the venue is, where the closest river is, where the districts are and familiarize ourselves with the neighborhood. That way, when we jump out of the van, we can say, ‘Let’s go shoot something over here.’” Being the lead vocalist has its perks, too — Oddisee is the last to sound check, giving him more time to venture out for a “golden hour” of sightseeing.

That said, traveling the world isn’t always easy — particularly for Oddisee. As a Muslim (his real name is Amir Mohamed el Khalifa), he’s used to extra security screenings, and though he’s disappointed in Donald Trump’s recent remarks about the Islamic faith, he doesn’t harbor any anger. “I’ve been going through it since 9/11, man,” he says of airport hassles. “We laugh at it at this point. It’s our policy that’s to blame. I’m not mad at Trump or anyone else. If you truly take time to understand someone, you should be left with nothing but sympathy and remorse.”

And that all leads back to his battle to be more understanding, tolerant and empathic: “If you believe in it, if it’s your calling, it doesn’t feel like a fight in the first place.”

— Dan Reilly for Instagram @music

The Quirky, Bold, Funny and Sometimes Prophetic Art of @landgallery

To see more artists’ work from LAND Gallery, follow @landgallery on Instagram.

An acrylic painting of a young Michael Jackson. A greeting card featuring Olivia Newton-John and a pilgrim zombie. An Alice Cooper Christmas ornament. These are just some of the pieces of artwork on display at LAND Gallery (@landgallery), a workspace and gallery for a group of artists — including Myasia Dowdell, Michael Pellew and Kenya Hanley — with developmental disabilities in Brooklyn, New York. “The art is quirky, bold, funny, strange, astute, at times prophetic, and exuberant,” says Sophia Cosmadopoulos (@sophiacosmo), the gallery coordinator. “Through it we are able to get a rare glimpse of this unique perspective.” Many would characterize this work as “outsider art,” but Sophia often captions it “insider art” as well, to indicate its broader significance. “Their art is just as compelling and should be included.”

As Prolific as Possible with @softcircle

To see more of Hisham’s photos, follow @softcircle on Instagram.

One day in the life of the artist Hisham Akira Bharoocha (@softcircle) might include a mural-painting block party. Another might involve directing a performance of 88 cymbal players and a 20-piece band. “All the mediums I use inform each other,” says Hisham, who lives in Brooklyn, New York. “I want to be as prolific as possible during this short lifetime we are given.” Hisham is also a photographer, and with his wife Kate Thompson (@kateth325), he invented the hashtag #caughtgramming, for the compelling, sometimes funny frame-within-a-frame photo that so often presents itself when one is hanging out with other photographers. The name “Soft Circle” was also inspired by his many creative pursuits. “It came from the visualization of how it feels when you feel love and peace throughout your body, like you have an internal sun and there is a soft edge to it, emanating warmth.”

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Lighting the Rituals and Peculiarities of Contemporary Culture with @dina_litovsky

To see more of Dina’s work, follow @dina_litovsky on Instagram. In New York City, visit Anastasia Photo, where an exhibition of Dina’s work is currently on display.

“I use an off-camera flash to transform moments into photographic fiction,” says Dina Litovsky (@dina_litovsky), a Brooklyn-based photographer who was born in the Ukraine and grew up in New York City. She cites the frenzied compositions and harsh lighting of German expressionist paintings as an influence on her photographs of social gatherings.

“Most of my photography focuses on public behavior, social interaction, as well as rituals and peculiarities of contemporary culture,” says Dina. “I think of my work as visual anthropology.” Speaking of her distinctive lighting technique, she says, “I experimented with using off-camera flash and loved the way it could separate the subject from the environment and tell individual stories in a crowded space.” She notes, “Though I am never interfering in the scene in any way, I wouldn’t call my work a straight document. Reality can be manipulated in many ways — my current weapon of choice is light.”

Bright Lights and Holiday Cheer in Brooklyn's Dyker Heights

To see more festive photos and videos from Dyker Heights, explore the #DykerHeights hashtag and visit the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights location page.

Each December, throngs of people from across the New York City area descend upon the quiet southwest Brooklyn neighborhood of Dyker Heights for one of the nation’s most extravagant displays of holiday spirit.

“None of us knew where we were going,” says Alicia Hosking (@its_alicia), a Melbourne, Australia native who recently arrived in New York. Alicia's friend organized a trip to the neighborhood, but kept their destination secret. “It was a cold night, and we had to walk far from the subway station to get there. But once we turned the corner and saw the street full of lights, it was so worth it. I’ve never seen anything like it in all of my life.”

Accustomed to Australia’s mid-Summer Christmas, Alicia found the experience particularly special. “So many houses participate in the festivities. It’s as if some residents are trying to outdo each other,” she says. Competitiveness of the displays aside, Alicia notes, “there was a genuine sense of Christmas spirit.”

The Strange, Small World of C+C Mini Factory

For more photos and videos from the strange world of C+C Mini Factory, follow @ccminifactory on Instagram.

For Chelsea Cates and Quinn Corbin, each fantastical C+C Mini Factory (@ccminifactory) photo begins with their vast collection of miniatures and found images. “The tone is meant to be playful and theatrical,” Chelsea says. “Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's absurd, and sometimes we're not even sure what those animals are up to—they have secrets.”

Their last initials—and nostalgia—inspired the name. “We're children of the 90s so it seemed appropriate for our name to be a nod to 90s pop culture,” Chelsea says, “and the fact that we don't take ourselves too seriously.”

Classic Objects Reimagined by Fredericks & Mae

For more photos and videos from the playful work and life of Fredericks & Mae, follow @fredericksandmae on Instagram.

Windsocks, darts, tassels, dominos and kites—these are some of the classic objects that the design duo Fredericks & Mae (@fredericksandmae) reimagine and make in their Brooklyn studio. “We are interested in forms that have existed for a long time that may have only recently fallen into the realm of not functional,” Jolie Mae Signorile, one designer, says. Her partner, Gabriel Fredericks Cohen adds, “Tools, games and rituals trace arcs though history and across the earth—we follow these arcs.”

On Instagram, the two typically share shots of their designs, mixed in with scenes from the beach and the boat they share with friends. “Instagram is a place where we get to share our materials, a bit of our process, and have a little fun,” Jolie says.