This article sees Playboy and Juxtapoz reunite to co-publish an original photo essay celebrating moments of connection, reflection and community on the front lines of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“If I’m able to make people feel *anything,* then I’ve done my job,” says Alexis Hunley. The 29-year-old Los Angeles–based photographer, who is self-taught, first began taking photos in 2017 as a way to process grief after losing her grandmother. Out of that vulnerability, and Hunley’s background as a psychology student, emerged a remarkable gift for creating images that capture moments of healing and connection. “We are more than our pain and our struggles,” Hunley once said.
Last year, Hunley joined the front lines of various Black Lives Matter protests in Los Angeles in order to document the resilience of Black people fighting for their rights and lives. The resulting images—bright and buoyant scenes of affection and connection among friends, siblings, peers, neighbors and strangers—celebrate the joy in the movement as much as the fight.
“When I look at my work as a whole, I start to notice how important touch is,” Hunley tells Playboy. “A lot of the images I’m drawn to are ones that depict people embracing. Those are the moments, especially at protests, that call out to me.”
Hunley curated this photo essay for Playboy and Juxtapoz—two publications that throughout their collective 95-year-history have shared a commitment to giving artists total freedom on their pages. We’ve never shied away from sharing work that ignites important conversations: Playboy and Juxtapoz last collaborated on the 2019 Playboy Symposium on art and activism. This most recent collaboration illustrates a joint commitment to spotlighting artists who not only illuminate beauty in our world, but also have something to say about it.
"I took this one the day after Dijon Kizzee was murdered. Everything was such a mess—so chaotic. Traffic was at a complete standstill, and then I saw the bus with the most beautiful sunset falling behind it and was mesmerized. This is one of my favorites."
"I live a couple blocks from the Marathon store where Nipsey Hussle was murdered. A few weeks after he was killed, I went over there and was soaking everything in and I took this photo. I don’t really know how to put it into words, but this image is so haunting. His presence is still felt here, even two years later. He had a tremendous impact on this community and this neighborhood."
"Folks were protesting outside Mayor Eric Garcetti’s house to block him from receiving a cabinet appointment in President Joe Biden's administration. I liked the composition of the balloons and the trees and the blue sky. It was truly a party filled with smiles and chants and laughter and community."
