Kwesi Abbensetts work ranges from editorial photography to documentary imagery. I noticed that throughout his work he often incises tension by the way he crops his models. Often leaving a limb or too behind, at first i thought it was just him not paying attention to his frame but as it showed up more in his work I realized that it had to be intentional.
Kwesi seems to really immerse himself in the community that he is in. He captures the good and the bad, sometimes incorporating text to help vocalize his message. In his Jamaica series he is documenting the sloms yes he is trying to show how impoverished some areas are however I get a sense of pride and community. The fact that Kwesi is able to get so intimate with some of his subjects is quite beautiful. He is able to capture the intimate moments that happen within the area that often go missed.
"the beautiful woman smiled at me. the albinos twisted, shrugged, stood up, and spread out the sack. the woman distracted me with her smile and then the albinos sprang at me and covered me with the sack.
… i heard noises of the world
"politicians! politicians are taking me away!"
my voice was very faint, as if i were shouting in a dream."
Stated above is Kwesis' artist statement. At first when I read the statement I didn't fully understand it because I didn't understood how the word albinos was being used ( a defect of melanin production that results in little or no color in the skin, hair, and eyes) but after researching more into his background it really stook to me. I got this heavy feeling in my gut and as I looked through his pictures I couldn't get that scene from my head. It also helped me to understand why Kwesi decides to use the images that are cropped resulting in dismembered limbs.
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