Threads of Reclamation (ongoing)

In my photographic project Threads of Reclamation, I explore Black hair as a site of identity, heritage and cultural resistance. Using the American flag and David Hammons’ African American flag as visual anchors, the work highlights both individual and collective journeys of learning to love the hair that we have been socialized to dislike. It investigates the tension and connections between personal expression, collective memory and national narratives.  Through intimate portraits and symbolic compositions, the project will continue to examine how Black hair carries stories of pain, resilience, pride, beauty and reclamation in the face of systemic erasure and cultural appropriation. By centering these threads of heritage, Threads of Reclamation asserts the beauty, complexity and power of Black identity, transforming familiar symbols into a meditation on legacy, self-determination and the ongoing negotiation of belonging. This is an ongoing photographic work.

- raichelle colbert-ruffin
2025