My name is Cherilyn Beckles and I am a visual artist from Brooklyn, NY who currently resides in Syracuse. I’ve been a photographer before I knew what that truly meant, whether I was taking photos on my mother’s old digital camera or making videos of my friends in middle school, I was always passionate about making people feel seen. As a black woman, my perspective inspires my photography, and my experiences influence how I see the world through my lens. In every picture, I aim to bring life to those experiences and share them with others.
When the protests began in Syracuse I immediately became a protestor. I believe in what they are fighting for because I too am an African American and I understand the fear of police brutality. The pictures I have taken embodies the emotion that I felt, that others felt and portrays the sadness, strength, happiness and despair of people banding together for a cause.
Currently I am expanding my artistry to collaborate with creatives in inner city communities within Syracuse.
Exhibition: Black Lives Matter
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Voices of the Movement: Syracuse, NY.
This is a visual audio piece created by Cherilyn Beckles and Luther Masanto, podcasters from (mis)guided adults. In this mashup of voices are interviews collected from protesters in Syracuse a part of Black Lives Matter who are marching for the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many more African Americans killed by police brutality.
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OG’s Against Violence
Digital photography, 2020
In what's described to be a critical moment, on June 6, 2020 community members in Syracuse, New York organized a Black Lives Matter rally that drew 2,000 participants. Participants marched to the front of City Hall that Saturday for a two-hour rally called, "The Fight Against Police Terror". While more than ten speakers spoke out to a record number of observers, photographer, Cherilyn Beckles transitioned from protestor to documentarian and used her camera and portable microphone to capture visual images and interviews of select protesters at the historic event. This photo along with several others in this exhibition provides an emotive visual language of frustration, solidarity, and peace that can be found in Black Lives Matter movements taking place globally.
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Window Seat
Digital photography, 2020
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Asking For My Black Friend / Star Spangled Banner
Digital photography, 2020
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Black Power
Digital photography, 2020
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Taking a Knee
Digital photography, 2020
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Silence Equals Death
Digital photography, 2020
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We Are Strong
Digital photography, 2020
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I’ll Never Understand but I Stand with You
Digital photography, 2020
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In Solidarity
Digital photography, 2020
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Smokey’s News
Digital photography, 2020
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Ascension
Digital photography, 2020
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Confrontation
Digital photography, 2020
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Stand for Something or Fall for Anything
Digital photography, 2020
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The Next Generation
Digital photography, 2020
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Black Lives Matter March
Digital photography, 2020
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Black Lives Matter Adorned
Digital photography, 2020
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Comfort in the Midst of Protest
Digital photography, 2020
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Cherilyn Beckles
Cherilyn Beckles earned a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism at SUNY OSWEGO. She recently graduated with a Master of Science from Syracuse University's Newhouse School in Visual Communications.
For more information about Cherilyn Beckles creative works please visit the following site:
