I remember you was conflicted/ Misusing your influence/ Sometimes I did the same/ Abusing my power, full of resentment/ Resentment that turned into a deep depression/ Found myself screaming in the hotel room / I didn't wanna self destruct / The evils of Lucy was all around me / So I went running for answers / Until I came home’. - Kendrick Lamar (To Pimp a Butterfly, 2015 | Mortal Man)

Mortal Man by Adrian Octavius Walker explores issues around death and self-destruction while portraying the journey of the emotional and physiological resurrection of Black men. “How does one kill themselves without dying?” asks Basil Kincaid, artist and subject-matter of the photographs series, to which Walker responds “by being your true self”. Mortal Man represents Basil’s rebirth, a personal journey into a new life. Surrounded by intimate textile materials from his life, Basil floats, dances with his pain and memories. One in front of the camera and the other behind it, Basil and Walker allowed themselves to be vulnerable together, connecting on a deep level as they wandered through the streets of Oakland, California. Walker in this series is able to capture the inner essence of his subject-matter, showing Basil’s true self, as in Kendrick Lamar’s words, coming home.

Selected works