The Photographer and Aint-Bad Editor In Chief's personal work and editorial leadership balances representations of joy, struggle, beauty and resilience.

Drawing on the warmth she experienced growing up in Louisiana beauty salons, Emerald Arguelles uses photography to reflect the past and envision a bright present and future for Black Americans. This comes across in a range of approaches and subject matter, from straightforward yet emotive black and white photographs of beauty salons to portraits that highlight the poetry of human gesture. And in her role as Aint- Bad’s Editor In Chief, Arguelles sees an ongoing opportunity to close the cultural gaps that still loom in contemporary photography.

I spoke with the photographer and editor to learn more about her personal work and gaze forward.

Jon Feinstein in conversation with Emerald Arguelles

Jon Feinstein: You describe your work as being inspired by an "absence of things in my childhood and adulthood."

Emerald Arguelles: When I was young, I compared my life to others, especially after moving to Ohio from New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina took my sense of familiarity and place; everyone lost something with that storm. I used to draw houses and everything I would have inside them for the day that I could have a home.

I created a domestic fantasy. I think I've always been chasing that and creating these worlds where a younger Emerald would flourish. Regardless of upbringing, so many Black men and women deal with displacement or no sense of home, and I want my work to be that home, space, or beacon of safety that they can be themselves and realize all they can be.

Feinstein: Does making this work help to fill that void?

Arguelles: Making work builds this fantasy brick by brick, and I can help others find their home. My work doesn't make me sad about the things I didn't have, but rather I think of what I have and the possibility of having as long as I have an imagination and my camera.

Feinstein: Your work is also continuously described as "immortalizes...." in relation to Black identity, culture, and existence. How does this play out for you?

Arguelles: I have been searching for a home, an identity, through my elders. At 26, I am just now having conversations with my Cuban grandfather about his upbringing, about his life working in a sugarcane field for five years in order to come to America, and asking my mother about her experiences growing up in Mississippi in the 1960s as a Black woman. After Hurricane Katrina, I learned that nothing is forever, and neither are people. Photography has become a way to heal. While photographs are tangible, the space we create and exist within a picture is priceless and intangible.

Feinstein: One thing that stands out for me about your work encapsulates a mix of struggle, joy, resilience and everything in between. It acknowledges trauma while pushing forward strength and beauty. Can you talk a bit about this and how you visualize it/ its importance to your practice?

Arguelles: I think the best way to describe this is to reference Marvin Gaye's “What's Going On". The most beautiful album, in my opinion, came from struggle. Historically, Black people have been able to turn straw into gold. My experience has been just that. I've realized that I have made a lot of decisions solely out of survival and never allowed myself to see or experience life and all the beauty that it has. My work puts past traumas aside to see what the Universe has put in front of me, to be grateful and present with whatever that may be.

Feinstein: In an interview with Vogue Italia, you describe an early interest in painting and poetry - which seems very apparent in some of the themes in your work, and how you "see" - from your attention to light and color, to the poetry of gesture.... can you talk a bit about this?

Arguelles: I think my superpower is my poetry. However, I have felt that going into certain emotions on paper and keeping them can also poison my happiness and the present. I have been able to channel that gift into photography. I want my images to reference bell hooks' words, James Baldwin's interviews while referencing a color palette of Francis Bacon, Frida Kahlo, or Kehinde Wiley. I am encompassing all of these elements into a photograph to channel the emotions these artists have made me feel.

Feinstein: I've noticed you work with models quite a bit - how do you go about hiring them and what's your relationship to the people in your photos?

Arguelles: I have personal relationships with all of the models in my work. It's a beautiful community of Black men and women. We break bread together, we cry, we laugh, go to brunch, and are there for each other in so many ways. Most of the models wanted to shoot and then formed a friendship over time, but I'm hoping to start street casting in the future.

Feinstein: Your work seems to straddle commercial/beauty/fashion/ editorial and art/personal approaches - and as a whole, it’s pretty genre agnostic. Do you make a distinction between how you work and see?

Arguelles: I don't define my work into those categories. I believe I can do anything. I also have felt the pressure of putting my work into a box, but overall, I want to do good work. I refuse to feel like it has to be defined as something for others to digest.

Feinstein: To that, I understand much of your childhood was spent in a southern beauty salon - and consequently, plays a major role in your work, the visual themes, notions of beauty etc. Can you discuss?

Arguelles: That shop framed how I view the world and the love, responsibility to protect, and admiration for marginalized communities. I was babysat by a queer man, Roy, and trans women were the first people I've seen do makeup. The Black women who would come to the shop defined confidence, swag, grace, and hard workers. It's an experience that came full circle later on, and I'm so grateful I was raised in that space.

Every Black Woman's Self-Portrait. © Emerald Arguelles

Feinstein: Switching gears a bit, it's been about a year since you joined Ain't Bad as Editor in Chief, and I've noticed some really wonderful changes + expansions with recent issues and the overall vision.

How did you start working with them?

Arguelles: When I transferred to SCAD, in the photo buildings, I didn't see myself or my community reflected in the works, even with Savannah being one of the most prominent African-American cities in the US with a proportion of 54% Black. This pissed me off and gave me a direction and purpose. Aint-Bad trusted me in the position of Editor in Chief, hired Black and Persons of Color and put them in leadership positions, and transformed the trajectory of the platform and the photographic community.

Feinstein: What's been most exciting about your experience with Ain’t Bad so far?

Arguelles: Working on Issue. 15 with many amazing artists, learning about them and creating a space to feel vulnerable and safe to express their art and journeys. Collaborating with Black Women Photographers was also such an honor!

Aint-Bad Issuie no. 15. Cover photo: Shawn Michael Jones — Aint-Bad Issuie no. 15. Cover photo: *Shawn Michael Jones*

(Kreshonna Keane’s “The Art of Reflection” published by Aint-Bad)

Feinstein: I imagine on a daily basis you come in contact with exponentially more work than ever before. Does this influence how you see/ think about image making?

Arguelles: I tend to be harder on myself about the work I create and evaluate what my purpose is. It's not enough to give exposure; I aim to do way more for artists. It's deeper than just image-making, it’s history-making, breaking barriers, and no longer asking for a seat at the table. Coming in contact with so much work reminds and empowers me.

Emerald Arguelles Celebrates Beauty, Community, and a Bright, Sparkling Future