Black people have been killed for directing their gaze at the wrong person. I want my subjects to reclaim their right to look, to see, to be seen.

- Dawoud Bey

I always wanted my photographs to challenge the status quo, to contest the kinds of images that existed in popular culture.

- Dawoud Bey

If done well, I believe the photographic representation of the human subject has the potential to be more revealing than what is revealed by the eye …

- Dawoud Bey

While I have devised various formal strategies for articulating [my] concerns, I think fundamentally the work is driven by a basic curiosity. I seek …

- Dawoud Bey

Sara Blair's Harlem Crossroads is an important addition to the body of literature that currently exists about Harlem. It brilliantly illuminates the …

- Dawoud Bey

People say don't stare. Through the photos, not only do I stare, but I allow viewers to stare at the subject, to see things that they cannot see with…

- Dawoud Bey

Improvisational things about picture-making... learned from working with the small camera early on have served me well in being able to think quickly…

- Dawoud Bey