Blackness in Transit: BGBM | BearBOI

“Congrats It’s a girl. 

A Baby black girl with her hair in a swirl on that newborn soft head-

It’s a tomboy- a phrase that is a temporary stage and will eventually phase out

Church Dresses and denied confessions

From skirts and perms to sweat suits and durags 

I am that Black Girl, I am that Black Man.” 

Blackness in Transit: BGBM (Black Girl to Black Man), an ongoing photography project initiated in 2020, traces living in multiplicity, through the past, present and future. 

The images are a claim to the agency to move with this multiplicity. In a society that denies the femininity of Black girls, there is a double resistance in claiming a Black girlhood, while asserting the ability, rooted in truth, and the will to grow into and create Black trans masculinity. 

Through an invitation to be photographed in sites of significance from childhood, Bearboi creates space for an homage to the unique experiences of girlhood from the perspective of Black transgender men and masculine people. In this portrait series, memories and sites from the past are layered with images that simultaneously show navigation of the world as assumed cisgender men. 

Blackness is the ever-moving puzzle piece of the cultural zeitgeist and Black trans people are some of the most crucial agents within it. Amidst the harm and violence that this hyper invisible group of people experiences every day, BearBOI intentionally highlights the experiences of Black transgender men and masculine people to a create space that can acknowledge their wholeness.

About the Artist:

Bearboi (b.1996) is a self-taught photographer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Growing up as a visibly queer child living in Maryland, Bear was accustomed to seeing the world through multiple lenses for survival and adaptability. It wasn’t until he started to use his sister’s travel camera that he began to document life from his own lens, uninterrupted. With his passion and installation work, BearBOI uses portraiture and unconventional composition in hopes to affirm the stories of the underrepresented whilst decolonizing masc white centered views of narratives. BearBOI was named one of Creatively’s Artists to Watch in Cultured Magazine (2023) and co-runs Boi Toy Studio - the first Black Trans led studio in the Twin Cities.

Bearboi Instagram

Blackness in Transit: BGBM is produced with curatorial support by Sati Varghese Mac 

Gallery Hours:

Wednesday - Saturday: 11am - 7pm

Presented concurrently with Adera, Lije; Adera Lijen (አደራ ልጄ፤ አደራ፣ ልጄን)

Image: The Return to Barbie Land, 2023, Digital Photography