The Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 were fueled by images that reshaped how many of us think about representation. At first, these were images of injustice, then, in the months that followed, resistance. Those images paved the way for a visual culture that ushered in a new wave of photographers of color who, through their striking and emotionally complex work, redefined what it means not just to be seen but also felt.

When HuffPost Voices newly relaunched as a section focused on celebrating the identities we embody conceptualized an IRL photography pop-up this fall, three photographers came to mind as featured artists: Justin Wee, Kamyiis Mclean and Myles Loftin. Theyd not just found success through representing queer people and people of color, but also by reclaiming the stories that are told about their communities by outsiders. In a culture that tends to co-opt and exploit our experiences as queer people of color, seizing those narratives felt like the only logical place to begin redefining what it means to be us.

Loftins career took off when he was a student at Parsons, where he worked on a photo project called HOODED. Its intent was to offer a counter-narrative to the widespread stereotypes about Black men in hoodies; namely, that a Black person wearing one is criminal by default. To turn that on its head, HOODED featured joyfully nuanced images of Black men in colorful hoodies, smiling, hugging each other and frolicking.

Loftin has held on to the ethos that gave birth to HOODED throughout his flourishing career, which includes high-fashion print covers. The 24-year-old says that, although the project was criticized by some for the perceived feminization of the men in it, he believed that those people were just uncomfortable because they werent used to seeing Black men embracing the radical act of joy. Its that discomfort that signals a touched nerve and, hopefully, a shifted belief system one that realizes that Black men are not a monolith nor are they vehicles for outsiders ignorant stereotypes.

One of Loftins recent and notable portrait series features members of the House of LaBeija, a ballroom house that has welcomed Loftin in as chosen family. Their expressions of transness and queerness, manifested through movement and clothes, have helped Loftin step into his own identity and sustainable peace.