A Portrait of Caesar

My ultraviolet moment.

Hello comrades,

Well, it finally happened. Someone realized that my visage is work of art and decided to act accordingly. Was it Saeed, my landlord, benefactor and one-person sanitation department? Of course not.

Marcus Morris is a photographer and artist based in Columbus; he has the misfortune of being Saeed’s friend and the fortune of being my auntie. And he recently made a cyanotype of moi. (I made Saeed google “cyanotype” because even my knowledge has its limits. Especially popular during the 19th century, cyanotype is a slow-reacting photographic process that is limited to the ultraviolet and blue light spectrum.)

Gaze upon me, humans. Behold the miracle of my stare. Thank you, Marcus. Comrades, you can follow him here on Instagram.

In this week’s episode of Vibe Check, Saeed, Zach and Sam discuss how, especially since the protests of 2020, police departments and politicians have developed an entire PR machine to “deal” with the outrage in response to cops killing Black people. And since Zach just completed his Dry January, the gurls discuss lessons from sobriety and the idea of “consensual consumption.” Saeed recommends the book edition of Carrie Mae Weems’ iconic Kitchen Table Series.

A quote from the episode that Saeed bribed me into posting here: “Whatever America is trying to tell us about its arrogant demands upon our bodies, I think it’s really important to remind ourselves of who we are and who we actually belong to, which is ourselves.” You can listen to the episode here.

Stay safe out there, y’all. And remember: you may be fine, but I’m rare.