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Donavon Smallwood Turned His Interest in Archaeology Into a Passion for Photography

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  • Donavon Smallwood

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Donavon-Smallwood-photographer

AGE: 30
BASED IN: New York
NOMINATED BY: Dawoud Bey

My creative philosophy is one of recording paradise. I grew up wanting to be a poet and archaeologist. Upon truly discovering photography, I realized that both of those practices can be found in image-making.

Photography allows for an (occasionally short-term) return to normative community. Image-making has allowed me to feel at home in the world. I’m less interested in what my work says about who I am and more about my milieu. I’m interested in piecing together and archiving what I believe to be worth remembering, keeping, or cherishing.

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