(New York, NY - Feb 11, 2009) - Capitalizing on new media and trends to expand and increase viewers beyond the confines of a room with four walls, a photography artist uses his Web page on the World Wide Web as his own gallery to exhibit some of his creations.


 

Wings of Glory  -  Black is Beautiful, Gay is Good!

After trying unsuccessfully to obtain gallery space to show his work and realizing that he could attract more attention by showing his work online, a Brooklyn, NY-based photographer modified a free Web-hosting site to put up photographs in an exhibition titled, Black is Beautiful, Gay is Good, as a commemoration of Black History Month, for the world to see. A self-taught Haitian-born American photo-artist cum photojournalist, Ocean Morisset, 39, represents in his online exhibition 25 photographs of different views of Black gay life.   Ocean Morisset He captures and provides contextual explanations for each of the photographs which depict: lesbian and male couples at gay rights protests and summer celebrations; cultural Kwanzaa and award celebrations; frozen for all time single Black gay men and women entertaining crowds or standing silently in grief, holding on to images of loved ones, Dwan Prince and Rashawn Brazell, killed by hatred and ignorance; images of intimate embraces, held and shared, between Black male and female couples, emphasizing the comfort each feels with the other; and portraits of Black men who have been influential in their own way, in society, from the Black Elder series, Bill Stewart, Anthony Jenkins, and Eugene Compson.

Gay Youth  -  Black is Beautiful, Gay is Good!

Viewers scrolling down through the images will arrive at an imposing image of Black male sexuality in history, from the series, Imaginary Portraits, Gay Lovers in History, 2008, the Azande Warriors of Ancient Africa; and documentation of the experience of the ravages of AIDS on the Black community, its effect on the late photographer Bill Harmon, and the still life sculpture of a stack of brightly colored AIDS treatment Kaletra pills stuck together as a pillar and a silent witness to the scourge. In his biography, Morisset, since 2001, has been intimately involved in representing and teaching photographic art: from the establishment of the Fort Greene Photography Organization in Fort Greene, Brooklyn in 2001; traveling to Cuba in 2003 under the patronage of Cuban-American artist Nestor Hernandez to conduct a photography and art workshop for young people; and traveling to Gonaives, Haiti in 2004 with the humanitarian organization, Eritaj Foundation, to deliver food and aid after Hurricane Jeanne.

Kevin Aviance  -  Black is Beautiful, Gay is Good!

In 2004, Morisset also began a visual documentation of the New York Black gay community, including Mukuru: Black Gay Elders, Pride in the City - New York City's Black Gay Pride celebrations, and his Black Male Nude projects; because of his work capturing the images of the devastation in Haiti, Aftermath of Hurricane Jeanne, he was accepted in 2005 to the Eddie Adams Workshop in Photojournalism which led to an assignment with The New York Times and TV Guide, and in the same year, images from his Black male nude, Black No.5, were published by Janssen Publishing, a South African company; and in 2006 he was commissioned to photograph subjects for a Black male nude book, Nude Photography, The Art and Craft, which was published in 2007. Toward the end of the exhibition, the artist provides a teaching moment where he lists the names and salient details of prominent Black men and women, some who were known to be gay and others unknown, in Black history.

Gay Couple  -  Black is Beautiful, Gay is Good!

While not seeming trite, he presents one of the now well known photographs of President Barack Obama, listing his plans for the Black and Black gay communities, including expanding hate crimes statutes, fighting workplace discrimination, supporting full civil unions and federal rights for LGBT couples, oppose a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, repeal don't ask-don't tell, expand adoption rights, promote AIDS prevention, and empower women to prevent HIV/AIDS. Links at the bottom of the page invite viewers to see some of his other work, many of which are Black male nudes, which in texture, lighting, and form rival Robert Mapplethorpe, but with a modern edge and expression. The final images in this redefined exhibition model are: a double exposure seemingly superimposed black and white artist's self portrait, and a black and white photo, taken in 2005, paying tribute to Harmon resting on a park bench when he would likely have been traipsing around the city, camera in hand, looking to capture the perfect shot.