People of the Sun

Melissa Alcena

Melissa Alcena

Melissa Alcena's series People of the Sun challenges the settler-colonial narrative by presenting her fellow Bahamians as the complex, sophisticated, and diverse people they are.

1 ETH

0 / 46 pieces

Dutch Auction

April 28th 2022 | 15:00

The Artist

Bahamian-born photographer Melissa Alcena flips the colonial-settler narrative of the the Caribbean in her work by centering her country and its people as complex, sophisticated, and diverse.

The Story

Melissa Alcena is a Nassau-based Bahamian portrait and documentary photographer. Her work often focuses on shifting the settler-colonial narrative of the Caribbean, and specifically The Bahamas. Alcena flips the script by directly engaging with Bahamians, putting them front and centre, showing them and her country as complex, sophisticated, and diverse. Her strong sense of colour, bright light, and deep shadow are purely homegrown, yet unexpected and nuanced. Reaching past surface appearances framed by the colonial gaze, Alcena reveals the true nature of her sitters and the nation.

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