Part of our “Art and Artists are Essential” collection and invitation.

Freelance and documentary photographer Denise Allen shares a photography exhibit she created entitled “My Son Matters.”

“‘My Son Matters’ consist of portraits of African American single mothers and their sons accompanied by written declarations. This exhibits elevates and honors the relationship between African American mothers and their sons while shining a loving light on the young men whose existence is often stigmatized.” — Denise Allen

“I talk back to a world that often dictates how one should think, feel, and exist,” says Allen. “My projects are collaboration between my subjects and me. I elevate and honor the people in my photographs, shining a loving light on stigmatized bodies and lives. I enlist the viewer as a witness, as someone who might talk back.”

Navigate through the portraits in the gallery below to read the statements that parents have provided discussing their sons, parenting, and race in America in relationship to one another.

Denise Allen is a freelance/documentary photographer. Learn more about Allen and her work.