BLACK SNAFU and Photography as an Emotional Outlet with André Ramos-Woodard

Santa Fe Workshops’ collection of free online events, Creativity Continues, features an evening this summer with photo-based artist André Ramos-Woodard (he/they). André uses their work to emphasize the experiences of marginalized communities while highlighting the repercussions of contemporary and historical discrimination. His art explores ideas of communal and personal identity, influenced by his direct experiences as a queer African American raised in Tennessee and Texas. Focusing on Black liberation, queer justice, and the reality of mental health, he aspires for his art to help bring power to the people.

During this program, André discusses the relationship between raw emotion and image making. André has been a crybaby for as long as they can remember; from forgetting their homework as a kid to watching those cheesy videos of families reuniting as an adult, they’ve never been able to shake those tears! André is just an emotional-ass person. For a long time, they considered it a substantial weakness within their personhood. In reality, all that crying was coming from a person who cared deeply for the people he loved.

Today, André channels their emotions into the themes behind their work. André uses his artwork to storytell, teach, and question ideas regarding historically marginalized communities–pushing these realities to the forefront of a world plagued by misogyny, anti-queerness, and white supremacy. During this Creativity Continues, André will share work from his mixed-media project BLACK SNAFU, investigating the reason he felt compelled to create the series and critique pop-culture, and why he believes it is important for people–especially marginalized people–to create from real, raw, doggone emotions. 

At the end of their presentation, André takes questions from the webinar audience. A recorded segment of the live event will be available for all those registered.

Selected for Silver Eye’s inaugural 2021 Silver List and a two-time Finalist for Photolucida’s Critical Mass (in 2020 and 2023), André has shown their work at various institutions across the United States, including the Tamarind Institute–Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston–Houston, Texas, Leon Gallery–Denver, Colorado, and FILTER Photo–Chicago, Illinois. He received his BFA from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, and his MFA at The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Creativity Continues is a program that collectively develops creative voices by offering connection and encouraging expression. Because the goal is to engage all within our creative community, we encourage you to extend invitations and share Santa Fe Workshops Creativity Continues events with anyone who expresses an interest.

Event Recording

Many thanks to everyone who joined us live. View the recorded program below: