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?UESTIONS: Khalik Allah

Capturing the raw fabric of life, filmmaker and photographer Khalik Allah. Both pain and beauty is absorbed in his photographs of people on the corner of 125th Street and Lexington Avenue in New York City.


Khalik's films Black Mother, Field Niggas and his latest I Walk on Water, encapsulates the powerful energy from his photography. His documentary filmmaking shares an emotionally haunting, social commentary.

How do you build relationships with the people you capture?

The relationship influences the art and the art is an aspect of the relationship. It starts from a genuine interest, and a visual sensibility.


Has your environment influenced your message?  

I'm influenced by NY and of course was influenced by all different hoods. NY and I are in a love relationship, sometimes it isn’t working but we keep building. My favorite characters are in NY though.

Your work captures both the natural beauty and undeniable pain of marginalised people, how does this impact your philosophy?  

My philosophy is about therapy, so I go where I think I can be helpful. Everyone who I photograph is also my therapist. Camera Ministry is about healing really.


What do you take away personally from the people you meet?

All sorts of stories. I listen. So they feel heard and let me in to photograph and listen more.

You refer to your work as “camera ministry”. What is your mission in the world?  

I came for the salvation of the world.

All images courtesy of Khalik Allah



C*LTURE: Dogon People


In central Africa, on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert live a people called the Dogon. 

A thousand years ago, fleeing from warring tribes the Dogon found refuge. They believe all life comes from a distance dark star, invisible to the naked eye. Modern science has confirmed the star’s existence, hidden deep in space. 


The Dogon have preserved ancient knowledge and information. Over the years a ceremony has taken place where the whole spectrum of Dogon knowledge is revealed, this information is passed from generation to generation. Their symbols reveal information about the celestial universe, hundreds of years before western science. 

Striking masks and dance are performed during the Sigi. Every 60 years the Sigi is an event related directly to the sacred star. The ceremony is a celebration of the alignment of the stars, the moment when the Dogon and the star are at their closest. After decades of research, scientists confirmed that a small star orbited Sirius every 60 years, exactly how the Dogon Tribe had claimed.  


Around 2 hundred thousand live in 300 villages scattered across the land. Unique social harmony is maintained by strong tradition. Amongst the Dogon murder and theft is unknown, greed is rare and disputes are settled by debate in open forum. 


The Dogon believe in a perfectly ordered existence, they believe they are a part of something much greater than themselves, that each task, however small reaffirms their connection with the rhythm of the universal. 

?UESTIONS: Emeson

Emeson, award winning film maker, singer-songwriter, producer, the list goes on. An original member of the soul group LifeSize, club and radio DJ, actor and support artist the man has a mountain of talents. Emeson has appeared in box office films such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers 2 and Kingsman.


As a film maker, he has written and directed the horror film 'The Super' and collected the 2019 Mobile 61 award at the Beertown Film Festival for his sci-fi short film 'Skywatcher'

As an actor, what has been your toughest role?  

Working on the film Nina (dir.HKB Finn) as the character Det. Insp Faulkner presented not so much tough but some interesting challenges. Faulkner was a mixed bag of emotions and wore each one at any given hour. Being directed to stroll down Peckham High Street with elbows out and barging into people who were unaware we were filming led to some interesting reactions.

What actor, past or present has influenced you?  

There have been a few to be fair. I've always been a fan of actors such as Lennie James, Sophie Okonedo, James Earl Jones and Denzel Washington. Actors who command the screen and are dynamic in any given role. Actors that no matter the script, you know they gave it their all. Their presence alone made something that was good, brilliant or even better.

What role would you love to play?  

I'd love to play a real nasty piece of work so to speak. Someone with depth and a near enough invincibility. Or maybe a nice guy who turns out not to be so nice. I once asked an actor friend what role he would love to play and he said "the next one I audition for." I think that's probably the most complete answer.


How do you find the balance between music and acting?  

The juggle is real. I love them both and when you love what you do, you have the time or the schedules will determine it. One will normally determine the outcome.


If your sound was a season, what season would it be and why? 

Summer. Yeah I'm a summer one. There's just so much to talk about.. Sun rays, warm summer nights, love, fate, inspiration, park meditations, melancholy and a tinge of sadness just before it leaves and the vibrant mood before it appears. 


Can you tell us more about The Dreeemweaver?

The Dreeemweaver project was initially meant to be an anonymous pseudonym. I had originally set up the Dreeemweaver Youtube channel many many haircuts ago, predominantly featuring music in my record collection so when it came to wanting to produce and remix under another name as opposed to 'Emeson', Dreeemweaver seemed the most likely choice.


I had done a few remixes and tracks under the new name and had been working with some artists as co-writer and producer before someone let it out of the bag that it was actually me. After the remixes, I felt it was time to put out some music also under the Dreeemweaver tag. There have been a number of tracks, a mixtape of sorts and now the Steps EP.

How important is it to have vision?

It's been said that a dream remains a dream until you have a vision and then on to an actual plan. I think your vision can drop anywhere in-between and around those scenarios. It's certainly important for me to have that. To gauge where I'm going or the things I wish to achieve.

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