lightskin. by Larissa Ramey

Private Story

lightskin.

Copyright Larissa Ramey 2024

Updated Jul 2019

Topics Arts, Family, Film, Fine Art, Friends + Family, Photography, Portraiture, Relationships, Still life

I am compelled to make work about my identity as a biracial woman, and how my life is impacted by the relationships between myself, my parents, and my partner. The act of documenting and interpreting levels of my identity through portraiture has given me the ability to pass through my experiences, and expand upon my own self-worth as a woman and artist. Portraiture is a way for me to capture the intimate and subtle ways in which I have carved out my place. These photographs are meant to explore relatable textures, scenes and relationships that carry a weight of understanding. As a person who is biracial, with parents who had an interracial marriage, there are many ways in which I had a cross-cultural upbringing. One of the ways I was able to start to understand my identity was when I was a child I would be considered “other” and many people either disregarded that I had a black father, and/or my mother was seen as my nanny. The possibilities that I couldn't possibly be hers because of my hair, eyes, and complexion were key. This is why I want to challenge the standards of what it means to have more than one identity.I am also documenting my partner Liam and my relationship I have noticed differed familial and cultural differences in how we both identity and perceive what being black means to us as a partnership and as individuals. Through all of my work I want to communicate a narrative of unique difference and inclusiveness.

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Larissa Ramey

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