By Marcus L Robinson

Hello my name is Marcus L Robinson, and I am a Photographer. I take a lot of pictures of just about anything and everything that moves. I am a Black photographer, and sadly to say, I have notice that many people here in the City of Chicago don’t respect Black photographers unless you work for a major publication.Well I really work for me, and every since I have been doing this I have had some very interesting run-ins with my own Black People. I didn’t know just how unconscious some of our people are until I started doing photography.

One of the sadness reasons that many Blacks as a whole fail in life is because they are not creative enough. After loosing my job with the Chicago Park district back in 2005, I decided to take my hobby to another level. During my extra free time, I venture out into the local Parks on the south side and photograph the guys on the Basketball court. Many play with there shirts off, and sweat dripping from there bodies. I personally never thought much about their appearance being considered as child porn. However, others may not share my opinion.

I also decided to take these guys and have them do some modeling for me. My plan was to take images of them posing shirtless and create a serious of greeting cards all geared toward a female audience for humor. Well I never knew that my Black people and perhaps some Caucasian

people thought the concept of creating greeting cards from bear chest bodies was so stupid. What is child porn, and why don’t we do enough to properly educate people on it?

People need to be detoxified from what the news reports say about pornography, and educate themselves on what child porn and pedophilia really means. Sense I have been shooting these photos, I have been called Gay, A rapist, and most worst of all a pedophile. But I am neither of those descriptions. I have received messages that convey that I never shoot or place photos of females on my Facebook page. At the same time, I have received some positive messages as well.

The reason I wrote this article was to clarify who I am and why I take the photos that I take. I don’t see a problem with the work that I do, and because I do this work, I have not suddenly shifted my gender or sexual preference to being Gay or something worst. I am highlighting the skills these young men display on the basketball court. What’s wrong with that? Why are peoples perceptions so distorted? It’s funny how people watch the news and see how a Gay guy is caught taking photos of some kids in a locker room, or playground but then turn around and ignore the part about the teen who was caught selling drugs near a park or school, or someone else is condemned for kind of gun violence.

White men can photograph Black people all day long, and nobody says anything because he’s White, and what he does is okay. But when I take photos of these young Black boys, I am either the boogie man with a camera or gay.

Why is it that Blacks don’t want to pay Black photographers for what they are truly worth? Are we so creative that we don’t know art when we see it?  There is more to Black art than African art, and artist today have there own specialty.

It’s not that I am bent on just photographing boys or young men with their shirts off, I believe I have the right to speak my mind just as others speak their mind. I enjoy taking pictures of people, flowers and trees aren’t my thing. People make the world go around and with that said, a photo without a person in it is dead to me.

I can’t reveal all of the reason behind the pictures that I take, because others will steel my ideas and get rich off of them.

I often wonder what makes young men think and act so unconscious? Why must they show off his their bodies like they do? Are they trying to humor the ladies?

I also wonder why some people get so offended by their style. If everyone lived by today’s social standards, the world would have no perception of art.

Holler back at me, my email is marcus@ccnewsmedia.org, or marcus.ccnewsmedia@gmail.com. I want to know what you think about this issue and article, and I’d like to know why you feel the way you do?

By CCNM

I have functioned as a Business and Media Consultant over the past sixteen years and spent many years developing my capacity to function in our ever evolving use of technology, communication, education and training.