Texas Isaiah focuses on developing an ethos that considers how a sitter should be cared for and protected as they find themselves within a visual archive. He acknowledges the connectivity between the sitter, a visual narrator, the environment, and other external elements required to create a caring image. A commitment to building systems of care is an extension of love. Texas Isaiah believes it's a beautiful way to be reminded of the possibility of what's attainable within ourselves. Despite the medium's historical violence inflicted on Black communities and communities of color, Texas Isaiah believes photography can be a healing mechanism while allowing others to self-actualize their pleasures. Though he has worked in studios and various indoor settings, his interest in imaging individuals outdoors comes from a personal curiosity about nature and the quotidian.
In 2020, Texas Isaiah became one of the first trans photographers to photograph a Vogue edition cover (Janet Mock, Patrisse Cullors, Jesse Williams, and Janaya Future Khan) and a TIME cover (Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union-Wade).
He is one of the 2018 grant recipients of Art Matters, a 2019 recipient of the Getty Images: Where We Stand Creative Bursary grant, a 2020-21 artist in residence at The Studio Museum in Harlem, a 2020 Clio Awards Silver winner for visual curation on Being Seen Podcast, and a finalist for the 2022 Artadia Los Angeles Award.
Texas Isaiah (He/Him) has two first names and is an award-winning first-generation visual narrator born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, who currently resides in Los Angeles, CA and NYC. He is an autodidact and has a giant appetite for traveling, so his process and work aren't tethered to one geographical location.
Texas Isaiah’s work has been exhibited internationally at SCHIRN KUNSTHALLE FRANKFURT (Germany), Dalhousie Art Gallery (Halifax, NS), Aperture Foundation Gallery (NYC), Studio Museum in Harlem (NYC), Fotografiska (NYC), Residency (LA), Hammer Museum (LA), The Kitchen (NYC), Residency Art Gallery (LA), Charlie James Gallery (LA),
His work was part of the touring exhibition The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion, which concluded in 2024. His work is currently exhibited in two touring exhibitions: As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic at Dalhousie Art Gallery in NS and The Culture: Hip Hop & Contemporary Art in the 21st Century at SCHIRN KUNSTHALLE FRANKFURT in Frankfurt, Germany.
His work has been collected by Studio Museum in Harlem, Hammer Museum, and Getty Museum.
Selected publications and clients: Apple, Google, Converse, Dior, Aesop, Urban Outfitters, Abercrombie and Fitch, Calvin Klein, VSCO, Essence, Vanity Fair, W Mag, British Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, TIME, The New York Times, LA Times, Artforum, and Cultured Magazine.