“There’s this vulnerability that comes from being with someone that you allow to get this close to and truly touch you, whether it be physically, mentally or just emotionally.”

—Kennedi Carter 

For her series East Durham Love, Kennedi Carter (American, b.1998) stages her subjects who have never met before as couples, bringing fictional love stories to life. Focusing on Durham, North Carolina, Carter aims to capture the essence of her hometown while exploring ‘the power of affection and the beauty that exists within the fabric of the American South.’ When Hands Touch, the poignant work offered here, portrays a scene of tender connection and love, showcasing a couple immersed in an intimate moment. The bold cropping, the interplay between light and shadow, and the pop of colour with the bright, gold cross together imbue the work with an expressive, painterly quality. Through her lens, Carter captures the ‘overlooked beauties of the Black experience: skin, texture, trauma, peace, love and community.’

In 2020, when Beyoncé selected the then 21-year-old photographer for her Vogue shoot, Carter became the youngest cover photographer in the history of British Vogue. Carter's work has been exhibited internationally, notably her solo show Kennedi Carter: Sight Unseen at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts+Culture in North Carolina (2023-24) and as part of Aperture’s The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion (2020-23), and resides in numerous collections, including at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Huis Marseille, Amsterdam.

This offering marks the artist’s debut at auction. 

Video interview with the artist for Kennedi Carter: Sight Unseen at Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts+Culture, Charlotte, NC, 2023. Courtesy of the artist.