When Bobby Rogers captures a portrait, he’s capturing way more than a brief moment in time. In that single frame, taken in that single instant, you’ll see that person’s humanity, their light, their hope come through the shot. And nowhere is that more obvious than in Rogers’s new exhibition, Innocence of Faith.
On display in the University of St. Thomas’s O’Shaughnessy Education Center until December 17, the series of eight almost-life-size photographs stages local Muslim kids in front of dreamy floral backdrops. There’s 4-year-old Aisha, landing as if she’s mid-skip, one foot kicked in front of the other, looking with wonder at something out of the frame. Samara, smiling sweetly with her head cocked—like she’s trying to figure out the viewer, instead of the other way around. And Bilal, giving viewers side-eye over his left shoulder.
Innocence of Faith is presented by The Bureau, a multimedia creative studio Aya Saed, Rogers, and a few other BIPOC Twin Cities–based artists founded after George Floyd was murdered, with a goal of starting conversations and narratives and teaching overlooked histories, primarily through art but also through events, editorial pieces, and other outlets. In a way, it’s an evolution of Rogers’s 2017 collection Being Black and Muslim, which was a photographic response to the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative’s viral Twitter hashtag #BeingBlackandMuslim, and the #BlackOutEid series he created with Paper magazine.
“They were educational, but mostly a celebration of a historically marginalized group of Muslims, which is Black Muslims,” says Fadumo Ali, The Bureau’s senior project manager (and a photographer/educator) of the previous collections. “And we both feel this, being Black Muslims ourselves. But it was a celebration of the beauty we know and we see on a regular basis but that is typically—and purposefully—pushed aside for a different narrative. Innocence of Faith was originally the youth version of that, and then we decided to expand it to youth across ethnic groups.”
“Islam, right now, how it’s represented is very propagandized,” adds Rogers, who, after graduating from MCAD, worked as a design supervisor at Juxtaposition Arts and as the staff photographer for Walker Art Center before striking out on his own full time. “Unfortunately, there are multiple institutions and actors that have stakes into making sure that Islam is portrayed a very specific way, but from our experiences, from the way we understand religion and Islam and our true cultural concepts, we have a very love-based understanding about how we interpret spirituality and religion.”
It’s hard to miss that feeling of love and respect when you’re immersed in the Innocence of Faith gallery. Rogers notes that, since he hadn’t met most of the kids prior to the shoot, he made sure to spend time with each child during the photography sessions to get to know them and their personalities so their own light could shine through the shots.
Ali says that since kids are genuinely curious about faith, they often begin asking questions at a young age—and Rogers and The Bureau wanted to bring out that curiosity and wonderment in the photos.
“They have a different understanding of what faith is when they haven’t had a chance for it to be challenged,” she says.
“With students and kids, there’s so much wonderment,” Rogers adds. “And so much curiosity that comes with how they’re understanding going through this world, and they aren’t approaching questions ready to disagree; they’re really curious. They want to understand. And there’s something really powerful and beautiful about that.”
That youth-like curiosity and the yearning to create real dialogue, not just one-sided conversations, are core values of The Bureau, and things they hope to instill in others with their work, which spans the media spectrum.
“It’s very natural that we occupy multiple forms of media,” Rogers says. “We know no individual is the same as another, and some people might want to be engaged via an event, an in-person dialogue, a lecture, and others might have an emotional connection to photography or dive into the written medium or poetry. That’s why we’re always trying to spread out.”
Since its inception, The Bureau—and other artists and speakers the core group has brought in—has hosted public conversations (called Black Forum events) at spaces like Mia, written editorials and articles for Atmos and other outlets, and designed capsule clothing collections. The organization is currently planning its next apparel drop, working with a host of clients to bring these conversations into new spaces, and looking for funding partners.
It’s important to Rogers and the rest of The Bureau to work with a diverse roster of clients and event hosts, which is one of the reasons they love displaying Innocence of Faith, a visual story about love and wonder within the Muslim community, at a Catholic (and historically predominantly white) university.
“We knew we had this project on the horizon, and at the same time St. Thomas offered me a space to exhibit work and asked if I had any ideas,” Rogers says. “We knew we could easily find a Black or an Islamic space. But we’re always thinking, especially with this project, How do we disrupt the status quo, but how do we do it in a really intimate and beautiful way?”
Almost immediately after seeing St. Thomas’s Department of Art History Gallery—tucked away yet prominent, not in your face yet unmissable, Rogers realized it was perfect.
“It was like, let’s make a big-ass powerful statement,” he says. “Let’s take over this space in this really Catholic space, and make it not only hella Black but hella Black and Muslim, and go against what they might be learning or seeing on the news or from their family, who might think things should be a certain way. And let’s put this here and stand up to that—because how can you see the work we’ve created and not see how beautiful it is? How can you stand under those images and still have hatred?”
If The Bureau has anything to say about it, hatred won’t stand a chance.
Visit the-bureau.co for more information and free tickets to small-group viewings/conversations with Bobby Rogers and other members of The Bureau.
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