We were lucky to catch up with Aja Grant recently and have shared our conversation below.

Aja , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

My current project, free body, is my most meaningful project I have brought to life. My practice is pretty experimental and I am often utilizing artistic processes to learn about myself and verbalize different feelings and thoughts. Whether that is experimenting with mixed media or taking time to learn a new process, art serves as a communication tool for me. As a society we can be very critical of the space we are currently in, with the common mindset that there is always room for improvement. But what about the power of the current moment? There is so much to claim in the present moment of being, through honor and gratitude. This project is themed around honoring yourself and giving yourself credit for where you stand right now. This project is a portrait series that will be exhibited at Cleveland Print Room from December 10th 2022 to January 13th, 2023. I have taken most of 2022 to work on this project, holding portrait sessions at my studio and learning printmaking to bring more texture and color to the series. Photography has a way of making moments live on and continuously teach us as we reflect on them and engage in conversation. Integrating people into my artistic practice allows me to be an active and passive participant, because although I am there and in control, I like to step back and give people the chance to fully represent themselves, even if just for a moment. In my photographic practice I do minimal editing and retouching of photos. Not that I disagree with it, but I feel that everyone has a good side, I just have to find it. There are so many different ways to compose portraits, so I like to get that work done in camera and use just about every angle I can. It is all a process to find what lighting, setting and angle should be used when showcasing confidence, pride and deep acceptance in a portrait. I have a unique perspective as a photographer, and my end goal is always for someone to see themselves as art, from an outside perspective.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’ve been utilizing photography as a creative outlet since high school, and took several classes in college to further my experimentation and learn from critique and feedback. I really had to learn to engage with feedback and allow it to help improve my work, but once I did it became clearer what my career in art could be. I studied psychology at Cleveland State, which greatly informed my artistic practice and initiated my goal to work with students. I began teaching in 2018, and teaching is something that continuously propels my art practice as it allows me to sharpen my skills and learn new ones to take into the classroom. So you can say I learned to go with the flow and allow time and experience to guide me. I learned to trust myself and stay true to what I wanted to pour my energy into when it comes to art and photography. Time has showed me that the commercial route isn’t exactly my lane, but I can make my own through fine art and art education. My main goal with teaching is to echo the notion that art is for everybody, and we can all enjoy the benefits of artistic expression. Art has allowed me to process and heal many different ways and share what I have gained with others. When it comes to my personal art practice, my main goal is to elevate black women and share their stories, visuals and ideas with my audience. As a black woman myself, I recognize the power of my voice and image, and the representation I can put forth. Narratives in my work often center nature and black people who are in my immediate community. Their stories and images are extremely meaningful to me, which is why I say I make work for my community’s elevation. The more we all see ourselves as art, the higher our self image rises.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

For a thriving arts ecosystem, artists have to be compensated and valued appropriately. This involves a respect for artists and their art, and supporting arts education in schools so the community as a whole holds value for local art and artisans. We need people well versed in the arts to be part of our communities to enrich and preserve parts of history, culture and storytelling in our lives. Artists also need opportunities and development in their practice to bring that enrichment back to the community. Residencies in studio and abroad should ideally be available to most artists serious about their craft. But most importantly, know how to truly support the artists in your life, as a friend of mine always says. Show up to their pop-ups, exhibitions, artist talks and support their ideas and vision. Share their work, buy it as gifts, take family out to see their art shows to expand their creative ecosystem and yours.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of art making for me is definitely the connections I am able to make with new people, and being able to collaborate and make bigger and bolder work through these connections. Many of the people I photographed in my latest series, “free body” I met after 2020 through networking and mutual friends. I feel like I am able to get to know them in such a unique way by photographing them, and sharing the resulting photos. I aim to make my studio sessions a safe space, a space of experimentation and non judgement. I often tell people to come in for a photoshoot wearing whatever makes them feel the most comfortable and confident. This prompt is interpreted differently by everyone, and it is such a fun challenge to find their most flattering angle, and capture their story in the present moment. I really love my job.

Contact Info:

• Website: AjaJoiPhoto.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joi_shoots/
• Other: check out these two art spaces where I teach : clevelandprintroom.com zygotePress.org check out my photo magazine, Ease, edition 2 here https://www.blurb.com/b/10924496-ease-2 *edition 3 was a limited edition print not sold online*

Image Credits
photo of me by Mckinley Wiley (darkroomco)