Cornell Watson

Illustration by Napoleon Wright II

Cornell Watson is an award winning photographer whose unique visual story telling made headlines with his Behind the Mask series. Watson works to portray authentic expression of subjects in a way that increases visibility.

Who makes a good subject?

Anybody who's willing to get in front of my lens.

Most photographers are content only shooting, so why have you chosen to supplement some of your portraits with attached interview?

With the family work I do, it's always been important to learn about them and their stories, but my Behind the Mask project is really where it started going deeper. In order to really make an image that represents their story, I need to understand their story. The Black story is dynamic and not every story is my story. I spent a lot of time with each family and individual to learn about their story. That started to carry over into my other work. Most recently it was a project I worked on for Progress NC called Voters of NC. That was a group project with three other photographers and we interviewed and photographed voters on election day.

Are you an activist?

I guess that depends on how you define an activist. Am I using my platform to influence and change minds regarding social issues? Sure. Am I doing work to help influence and change things at a policy level? Not really.

I think there's a spectrum of things that can be seen as activism and they're all important. I'd argue that art falls under that umbrella.

Whose portrait would you love to take?

This is a tough question because there are so many, but I'm gonna go with Dwayne Wade and the fam. What isn't there to love about them? They are a beautiful family and we need to see more families like them that fully represent the diversity of Blackness.

What is Durham to you?

I love Durham. It's a place with so much potential to be something really special. I love it's diversity and progressiveness. There are some really good things happening in Durham and there are some areas of opportunity. Affordable housing is one area in which I'd like to see Durham do better.

How can we get a hold of your photography for ourselves?

Visit me at my website. I have information there regarding my commercial, editorial, and family photography services. I have limited edition prints for my Behind the Mask project, and open edition prints.