Words + Photography: Lenworth McIntosh “Joonbug”
Miles Davis’ “In A Silent Way”, 1969 (the LP from which this photo series borrows its title) begins with a nostalgic church organ that sets the tone—soulful, soft, and smooth. As the song progresses, instruments are layered in one by one, and it becomes the soundtrack to a series of images synonymous with a personal journey inward. Jazz is a way of seeing. These images are centered around the unseen, where focus is placed on the spaces people occupy just as much as the people themselves. I photograph members of my community in a voice that listens, respects and reflects the quiet complexity of their being. Jazz is, for me, a portal offering a quiet clarity of the mind in the stillness of night. These selected images speak a silent language where the longer you sit with them, the deeper you’re able to feel and communicate as if, telepathically, they are manifesting themselves as your memories. “In a Silent Way” offers a way to understand life through empathy in a language felt and not heard
About Lenworth McIntosh “Joonbug”:
Born in Jamaica and emigrated to The United States as a child, living in Texas, Florida, and now Oakland, California. His work explores unseen members of the community in a way that respects, and reflects the quiet complexity of their being. The images are steeped in nostalgia and offer a way to understand life through empathy in a language felt and not heard.
