An Afternoon with Masud Olufani
I saw the work before I met the artist.
I was standing outside Masud Olufani’s studio waiting for him to let me in when something through the window caught my attention. I didn’t know yet that what I was looking at was his. I just knew I wanted to see it closer.
When he arrived, we introduced ourselves and made sure we were saying each other’s names correctly. “Stan, right?” We laughed.
I came there to make portraits. It took me almost an hour to pick up the camera.
Not because I didn’t know what I wanted to photograph. Masud was simply giving me too much to think about.
I asked about his work, what he was making, where the ideas came from and what was next. We walked through the studio as he talked about his practice, his travels, the African diaspora, food and the histories carried through things as familiar as okra and yams. The conversation moved into Atlanta, art, education and what happens when children are exposed to creative possibility early.
At some point I realized I didn’t want to interrupt the conversation just to make a photograph.
So I listened.
Eventually the camera entered the conversation too.
