Ézé Amos

Ézé Amos is a Charlottesville-based documentary photographer and photojournalist, but it is his love of street photography that fuels his art-making. Immigrating from Nigeria in 2008, Ézé brings with him a love of storytelling that resonates far back into his childhood, of tales by moonlight passed around through family. Though, with COVID, Ézé’s practices have been put to the test, leading to some necessary and revitalizing revelations.

Capturing Porch-traits

Restless for a project in the midst of a quarantine crisis, Ézé was scrolling through social media when something caught his eye: post after post of people posing for pictures on their front steps. Fueled by a need to photograph people again, Ézé spearheaded the Cville Porch Portrait Project with four other local photographers. He found himself walking deserted streets, standing outside stranger’s houses, learning and discovering neighborhoods all over the city. It was reconnecting with people in the community that proved the value of the work he was doing.

Photographing Protest

As a Black photojournalist, Ézé Amos experienced with urgent clarity the summer of protests for George Floyd and against systemic police brutality. From being shot at with rubber bullets, to marching with chanting crowds, the responsibility of being an artist and a human being was immediately apparent in his practice of photography. In one instance, Ézé was photographing a line of police officers when he overheard plans to round up Richmond protesters. Returning to these protesters, he decided to warn them of the impending raid. “I’m not neutral. I’ll be telling you a big lie if I tell you I go to these events photographing this protest as a neutral. Yes, my profession tells me I should just take the photo and tell the story. But where is that story coming from? From what perspective? Last I checked, I’m still Black.”

Documentarian At Heart

One of Ézé’s first photographs was taken by pure chance. It’s of his nephew, praying, framed in his bedroom window. Before he knew anything about shutter speeds, or apertures, Ézé’s first photograph is nearly a certified miracle, But it reveals an unmistakable moment of spontaneity, and with it, a beautiful truthfulness. Ézé affirms a desire and need to stay rooted to that mindset, especially with COVID revealing how valuable mundanity and intimacy can be.