Written by Maddy Crump, Photos by Kazimir Brumley
Kazimir Brumley, a third-year advertising and art direction student, has had a fascination with the power of photography since his teenage years. Back then, he spent his days learning to use his grandfather’s 35mm Minolta camera. The son of a military family, Brumley moved several times growing up. He sought comfort in the old Minolta and the solitary act of taking photographs. “It was the only thing I could really stick with throughout all the moving because sports and dance and all that, you have to continuously sign up, meet people,” Brumley said. “Photography I could do by myself, no matter where I was.”
Growing up, Brumley spent summers in Washington, his mother’s home state, and described it fondly as his favorite childhood place. His photographs make use of high contrast chiaroscuro, no doubt mirroring the moody climate of the state.
Brumley expressed excitement that he is able to explore photography in a collaborative setting now, a welcome change from the days of solitary exploration. After having received an Associate Degree in photographic technology, Brumley is grateful to practice his craft here at SCAD without the confines of a major curriculum for photography. Studying advertising and art direction allows him to better understand the way art and media interact.
His interests are diverse, allowing for an interdisciplinary approach to creating images. Casually, he mentioned that he had made a dress featured in the photo set we were discussing. “My mom’s a seamstress, she taught me all that,” Brumley said. “I like to play with silhouettes, androgyny and gender fluidity stuff. I like to put a woman in a more masculine role or a guy in a more feminine one.”
The juxtaposition in his work of lights and darks, masculinity and femininity provide a beautiful balance of soft and angular shapes creating a dreamlike world within a single image. In this world, the human form is unlabeled and unbound to gender norms and expectations.
The reception of the images, however, can often be subject to criticism of those themes. “I usually do a lot of implied nudity and my models post it and they love it but I feel bad sometimes. We’re looking at the form of the body, the shapes, and people will still come at them telling them they shouldn’t show their body,” Brumley explained. “Like, they are giving it a meaning, we’re just looking at the form.”
By analyzing the form of the body without the contextual confines imposed by gender norms, Brumley is creating work that speaks to a diverse group of people. We spoke about the way social media can influence the reception of work. “Being an artist, we create work that’s always so personal but social media is the way you can reach people. But once you get big, it’s inviting so many more people to critique the work, even if it’s meant for a target audience,” he said with a laugh. “Being an artist is a little weird nowadays, I guess.”
