Black Astronaut - Hardcover

by Kamal X (Author)

Black Astronaut. The Stars
Belong to the People

Believe in yourself, whatever the mission

Join award winning photographer Kamal X on his epic search for beauty through a divided America.

Black Astronaut is an extraordinary collection of powerful images that tell the stories of the everyday people behind the sensationalised headlines, a nuanced representation of the new Black America. Living, loving and fighting for a better world in
difficult times.

Open your heart to this electrifying collection of images, as Kamal X uses his camera to explore America after George Floyd, Covid-19 and Trump by finding beauty, humanity and hope in the rage of a people under fire.

Black Astronaut serves as a raw opportunity to re-evaluate one's own intersection with the ongoing shifts in society that bring renewed threats to communities against a background framed by the unequal impact of economic volatility.

This book is about looking at the recent past to try to find a direction for the near future.

Kamal X emerged from the isolation of covid lockdown, seeking a new mission, wanting to document the rage and passion of people in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder. But he was afraid to go back out into the world in the middle of the worst pandemic in living memory, and so he took on the mantle of the Black Astronaut, a kind of mental totem to give himself the strength to continue on his impossible mission. Championing the importance of believing in oneself no matter how extraordinary the mission.

Features and contents:

A photographic essay in six parts. Images from an epic journey through 13 cities and 9 states over the period of 120 weeks:

- Introduction: Finding X

- Part 1: Mothership, Stay Home.

- Part 2: the Big Bang, Higher Power

- Part 3: Gravity, When We Close Our Eyes

- Part 4: Deep Space, The Great Beyond

- Part 5: Antimatter, Internet Explorer

- Part 6: Zenith, The Speed of Light

"The road never lies, it only provides opportunity to see who you are and what you are truly made of." --Kamal X

Author Biography

Photography by Kamal X, award winning photographer. Introductory essay by Eli Reed, Magnum Photographer and runner up for Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.