A Five Star Life
He Loves Me…Not VI , Malika Ali Harding, 2021. Shot on location at the Pulitzer Hotel Amsterdam.
With nowhere to go in 2020, I had to sit quietly with my own angst. For a good part of the preceding year, 2019, I’d collected both stories and wardrobe pieces (dresses, jewels, and facial hair) to one-of-these-days begin shooting the photobook project in celebration of my daring uncle David.
I talked a lot about making this work without actually making the work. I was afraid that my skill level as a narrative photographer wouldn’t do his life justice. That I might make something on the wrong side of camp. That the words I put together wouldn’t be good enough and the pictures even worse. Deadly perfectionism stopping me from stepping foot into the process.
Music and my mother’s voice, “Fuck you fears!” (that’s just how she talks) encouraged me to put on the beard and pop out my camera. I’m so glad I did. Creating these portraits has been literally a transformative experience. I get to shape-shift out loud and embody an entire spectrum of moods, moments, and gendered expressions.
Most of this project has been lensed from inside my living room, so when the doors of the Hotel Pulitzer opened, I leapt at the chance to get out of my apartment and shoot from their 5-star luxury tub. Uncle David’s life story deserves nothing less.
