They call him Bae.  Dark Chocolate.  Daddy.  Husband.  King.  Adonis has the most devoted and lusty fans that I’ve ever encountered.  The moment that he posts a new picture to his Instagram, with over 44,000 followers and counting, the onslaught begins:

“Impregnated”

“My knees just buckled”

“I LOVE YOU” (lots of these)

“I’m melting”

“Hot AF”

“Lawdddd”

“Help Me Jesus”

“Cryin”

“Beautiful”

Beautiful is the word that interests me the most when I view the comments on Adonis’ page.  It is the most consistent word that people from all over the world and from every ethnic, gender and sexual identity use to describe him.  That’s incredibly powerful because Adonis, with his gorgeous dark skin and broad nose and full lips, isn’t considered beautiful by a measurable contingent of the fashion industry.   The evidence of that fact stares us in the face during every fashion week.   Many shows don’t have any black models – at all. Or if they do, there’s only one…maybe two.   In Milan last year, Adonis was even turned away from a casting because they were “not looking for brown people”.   Appalling, but not surprising.

Fashion shows aren’t the only ones that discard and disregard the beauty of Blackness.   The “elite” fashion magazines that millions of people seek out to inform themselves about what’s stylish and beautiful usually have very few black models featured in their issues.   It’s even rarer for a black model, or person for that matter, to be featured on their covers.   If a black person does end up on a cover, it’s usually a “special issue” or a sports themed issue.

Yet those same magazines and designers have zero qualms about greedily appropriating Black and African Culture.   Cornrows and grills, tribal textiles and makeup design – and most notably “urban” style of dress (including jewelry and nail art) are constantly and flagrantly culled by fashion’s top tastemakers.   Nearly every aspect of Black Culture has been assimilated and regurgitated to the masses by the fashion industry.

It’s gotten to the point where people don’t even realize that Bjork didn’t invent bantu knots.   It’s gotten to the point where no one remembers that Black People cultivated the art of nail design for decades.   Only when white people and the fashion industry decided that it was ok to wear and decorate fake nails, did it become “new” and “fresh” and “cool”.   Only then did it become acceptable.

It’s gotten to the point where instead of seeing our people walking down the runways and appearing in top ads and editorials, we’re seeing our culture being appropriated as the season’s hottest trend while being caricatured on a white body.

If  black models were equally represented on runways and in campaigns, I wouldn’t have a problem with designers and magazines being inspired by our culture and creating art from that inspiration.   What bothers me is that they’re getting inspiration from us, but not giving anything back - and that’s what’s shameful.

It’s always been incredibly important to me that the first issue of SCRUGGS feature a black model on its cover.   Even more importantly, I always knew that I wanted Adonis to represent my first issue.   I definitely feel like something special happens when we shoot together.   The images that I’ve captured of him have created some of my most dynamic and inspiring work. Yes, I can admit that I consider him to be my muse.   Other photographers have said the same thing about Adonis…but in my opinion, no one else can capture his magic the way I can.

This is only the second time that I’ve shot Adonis.   Our first shoot produced dozens of images and a video portrait that collectively yielded almost 100,000 notes on Tumblr (which for me is a lot).  The video portrait, showcasing Adonis’ grace and goofiness, has been gif’d so many times by his fans that I can’t keep track (Adonis doing the Cabbage Patch is a particularly popular clip).   Throughout that first shoot, I was in awe of the images that we were capturing.   They were so strong and emotional and stunning.   Shooting Adonis was definitely a turning point for me as a photographer.

I don’t view our collaboration for SCRUGGS as a fashion story.   I view it as an art story.   Adonis is the embodiment of sculpture and fluidity and grace and masculinity and power that’s on the cusp of being out of his control.   He is completely and utterly Beautiful.   These images are more than what we’ve shot before.   More Elevated.  More Energetic.   More Everything.   In the sea of magazines that will inevitably surround this issue as it’s displayed in bookstores and on newsstands,  Adonis’ gorgeous dark skin and his broad nose and his full lips and his Power is what will draw people to SCRUGGS.   A North Star guiding us through a Sea of Same.                                                      

That is why they call him Bae.