In these images, a separation occurs: Either I stare directly into the lens in these domestic scenes with a self-aware gaze, or I look away, allowing myself to be viewed by the audience without being objectified. By doing so, I assert my autonomy, objectifying the self as a form of liberation from the typical judgment and sexualization of Black queer individuals.

 In the images where I choose to confront the lens, I am speaking directly to my place within Logan Square, Chicago, my current home. I arrived here from South Central Los Angeles, a neighborhood shaped by Black and Brown communities, yet so often reduced to a narrative of danger and disorder. I left as gentrification began to unravel the fabric of that place, pushing people out, rewriting its story. Now, I find myself in another space already transformed, already stripped of much of its history. Logan Square stands as a mirror of what I left behind, its past barely visible, lingering only in fragments.