Bio:
De’Ja Marshall is a narrative tableau photographer based out of Tacoma, Washington. Her interest in photography was first piqued at ten years old while spending time with her grandfather’s digital camera. Over the course of her extensive photography journey, the subject matter with which she grappled through her art ebbed and flowed with the ever-changing interests of her youth. The latest iteration of her work centers Black women and serves as a culmination of the development of her artistic praxis at the Evergreen State College; more pointedly, exploring the nature of Black femininity and the fluidity of divine feminine energy as it persists outside of the white gaze.
Artist Statement:
Dear Diary,
I am feeling called to sincerely reevaluate how the love I offer to myself maintains the unwavering disposition assumed of it.
Simply put, it doesn’t; at least not well.
Does this break the illusion?
My self-worth-
Fragile and sensitive,
Fleetingly contingent on others’ outward, overt perception of myself.
It’s true, you see
There she goes
Constantly reassuring,
Redefining,
Constantly in conversation.
She is made of
Mind, spirit, body,
All coming together to collect.
She brings pieces back together.
Here is where I bring pieces back together.