“If We Were Allowed is an evolving photographic archive exploring queer Afro-diasporic intimacy, tenderness, and belonging.”

Through staged portraiture shaped by trust and conversation, the project documents Black queer couples whose relationships have often remained unseen, underrepresented, or culturally contested.

Developed between intimate encounters and visual storytelling, the work foregrounds tenderness, emotional presence, and ordinary affection as forms of visibility. At its core, If We Were Allowed responds to the scarcity of visual archives representing queer Black love while questioning narratives that position queerness as external to African and Afro-diasporic identities.

Spanning Africa and its diaspora, the project creates a living visual memory shaped by stories of intimacy, vulnerability, joy, longing, and resilience. Rather than reducing queer Black lives to struggle alone, If We Were Allowed offers space for softness, connection, and the possibility of being seen fully and without fear.