Photo: intentions set on making viewers question their perspective and forcing them to acknowledge the stories of its subjects, photographer and creative director Joshua Kissi is forgoing boundaries and shaking up the industry – for the culture.
With the help of his agency, Kissi has worked on creative projects with Nike, Google, Target, and most recently shot his first book cover for Elaine Welteroth’s New York Times Bestseller, More Than Enough.
Regularly Kissi chats with a variety of creatives for an hour each, giving them a platform to share how they, too, are coping with our new normal and the current climate, but more than that, a platform to share their stories in depth.
Photographer Mark Clemmons participated in one installment of the series, sharing how he deals with nervousness, Ebonee Davis discussed how she intersects modeling and activism, and Mick Jenkins shared a story on how his romantic relationship aided him in his rapping career
Kissi’s career is heavily grounded in the strength of storytelling, and Hour Stories is essentially an interactive, real-time interpretation of the work he’s been doing for the Black community through his photography.
The creative is determined to continue doing the work to lay the foundation for the generations of creatives to come after him, committed to eliminating the cycle of creating stories around Black and brown people without paying homage to the reference point– our roots, our ancestors.
