Joshua Woods is a photographer and filmmaker currently based in Paris. An autodidact with unbridled curiosity, Woods kneads the intellectual nuances of photojournalism with the creative flares of fashion and art. It is through this blurring of boundaries that Woods resists the tropes of what constitutes blackness; identity, creativity and reality.
In 2018, Woods’ was featured in the New Yorker with his self-funded photographic journal of Senegal. The series created a connection between the black urban communities of Harlem and Dakar, who despite their hardships, share a dynamic approach in their expressions of creativity and style. It is through this process of social reportage dovetailed with a sharp eye for aesthetics, that Woods has since captivated the worlds of fashion and journalism.
Featured on Dazed 100, Woods' portfolio alongside numerous high end editorials, features covers for the likes of AnOther magazine, i-D, M le Monde, Re-Edition, T magazine, Office magazine, and DAZED. The commercial work is just as diverse as his editorial credits from shooting global Hennessy campaigns to working with the likes of Gucci, Chloé, Lacoste, Nina Ricci, Zara, Nike, Re/Done, Kenneth Ize, Ralph Lauren, Wales Bonner and Carhartt. The subjects of Woods’ work range from Skepta and Michèle Lamy to the French civil rights activist Assa Traore and former black panther Melvin Mcnair.
Woods' portfolio is an embrace of references from high and low culture, music to food, pop to politics, history and contemporary; a constantly evolving method of documentation that seeks to provoke action and further conversations around race, identity, creativity and reality.
Joshua Woods \ Instagram