Khalik Allah is a photographer based in Harlem, where most of his pictures are made. All the pictures in his project titled "Into the Light" were taken at night time which is easy to see. Allah made these pictures with a film camera and her decided not to use a flash, so the streetlights a lights from signs in windows were his only source of lighting.
I think that literally gave a spotlight to people who might have never had that opportunity otherwise. Allah is obviously taking pictures of people who many people may not want to see and through that he brings up a lot of questions about the society we live in, standards of beauty, and just the way each of us individually thinks. He wants his audience to take a step back and maybe realize the reason why these pictures may not be aesthetically pleasing at first glance.
I was actually really intrigued by these pictures when I first saw them. I think that Allah uses light in really interesting ways and I like the fact that he found a way to picture darker skin tones without having them blend into the background. The subjects in some of the pictures almost seem to be illuminated from within. I also really like the point behind these pictures. When describing what he does with his camera he said he is, "Entering dark places of the mind and looking at them. That's the only way a problem can be resolved: Not looking is how problems are preserved." While it's difficult for only one person to make a huge difference, I think it's really important that Khalik Allah is photographing the people he's photographing.
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