Jeune Noir à l’Epee (Young black boy with a sword)

The prying eyes of the world often see young black boys as products of troubled homes, troubled hearts and even troubled fathers. Much like the words associated with their existence, the elegant parts of their lives also remain largely unknown and undocumented. It is presumed that the young black boy is in perpetual conflict with others and himself. To make it past the adolescence stage, he must be armed with a knife, gun or sword - ready for war. This all too familiar narrative erases the dignified, happy and love-filled moments that add to his humanity. Djibril Drame steps up to offer an alternative narrative. 

Drame’s photographic series is largely inspired by the oil on canvas painting also titled Jeune Noir à l’Epee (1850) by French artist Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898), a pioneer of modern art. The said painting presents a nude nonchalant armed black boy against a backdrop of tragedy and troubled landscapes. The subject is slightly weighed down by the sword he carries but his form still exudes elegance as he sits on a green tunic and wears red headgear, a Phrygian cap - a symbol of freedom. Painted at a time when laws were recently passed to abolish slavery in France (1848), the oil on canvas  can be largely interpreted as a salient ode to freedom. 174 years later, Drame still addresses war, oppression, peace, freedom and has subtly incorporated them in this body of work. 

Drame’s interpretation strips the original work of its tempestuous landscapes; malleability; looming tragedy; the subject’s indifferent expression and heavy sword he carries. Firstly, Drame’s subject is captured against a backdrop of natural elements - clear skies, vast waters, mountain tops and shrubs. The young man’s skin tone appears to be generally unencumbered except for close up images where he appears to guard his private parts and eyes with oranges and a pineapple. 

Drame chooses fruits as a weapon of choice - a radical medium to bring peace in the new world he envisages for black males - a world where the black boys and men enjoy the fruits of their labour and navigate life with a spirit full of love, joy, kindness, harmony, and self-control.

Drame’s subject’s gaze is mostly soft and turned away from the camera. This is in stark contrast to the hypermasculinity and strength that surrounds the “boy” in the oil painting. Drame’s subject exudes a quiet courage and confidence as seen in his pose and gestures. It is soft, deliberate and controlled. We instantly reimagine the black male experience as we are not presented with negativity, fear or absence. Drame enjoins the viewer to adopt a different way of seeing and understanding this largely misunderstood and marginalised set of people in every society - the young black man and boy. 

Although Drame’s subject is simply “clothed” with fruits whilst on a light brown mesh-like material, this body of work, Jeune Noir à l’Epee remains full of colour, sensitivity and presents a positive image of young black men and boys.

Curated and written by Seun ALLI

Senegal 2021