With his camera as his guide, Atlanta-based photographer Allen Cooley explores his own identity through thoughtful and keenly observant imagery. He intends for his environmental portraits of Black Americans to act as a new framework in which he, and others like him, can be discussed. 

About this series Cooley says, “Our culture is constantly evolving and continually improving, but I am disheartened by the rare and brief glimpses of this evolution that are typically available to the mainstream consciousness. I’m tired of imagery that simply perpetuates the extremes of African Americans, either to sell a high-class, pretentious way of life, or to promote pity for poor, ignorant, subservient Negroes who’ve had it hard. I’m neither of those two. I’m intelligent, not ostentatious, and I’ve had it hard, but refuse to allow those hard times to define me. I understand that both the upper and lower echelons do exist, but people like me exist as well.” 

Allen Cooley’s work is strongly influenced by his interest in African American culture. Cooley was born in California. He attended Albany State University in Albany, GA. After graduating from the HBCU (Historically Black College or University), he realized that his desire for a better understanding of himself and others around him would benefit from intensive observation and investigation. How better to look at people for an extended period of time than through photography the medium of photography?  Applying to Savannah College of Art and Design for his Masters in Fine Art, he realized taking pictures would be his way to answer many questions for himself and others around him. He will be completing his MFA in photography from SCAD in May of 2009.