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Motionless Emotion:
A Thousand Words not Needed
By LINDA A. ANNAN
Published: August 15 , 2007
Bustling streets have always been a landmark of New York. Noises from pedestrians and buses compliment a lively sight that is sometimes a pain to others. But scattered among its residents and visitors with creative vision are some of the world's most inventive minds. From the engineer to the fine artist, they all strive for a fair chance in exhibiting their tour de force. If Gordon Parks were alive today, he would be pleased to know that he still inspires generations of passionate artists like Stanley Lumax, a New York-based professional photographer, who aspires to reach his level of accomplishments.
“I feel like he was the first of the time; a black man who was able to shoot for high fashion magazines, and also he was able to capture emotion and shot brothers and sisters, he shot people in a specific time period,” says Ghanaian native Lumax, of his admiration for the legend who inspired him.
He began experimenting with the intriguing side of a camera at a very young age. “I can remember being eight years old and going to school trips and always seen around with a camera,” he says, but turning the hobby into a profession did not begin until 1999.
At one point the name “Stoneface,” given by a friend in college (Temple University) had meant to brand his emotionless nature but later became one he identified with when he decided to devote more time to photography; “It just made sense,” he says of the name connected to his mission statement and his business, Stoneface Photography.
“I might not be someone that showed a lot of emotions on my face or physically but I always want my photography to at least give a feel of emotion. I want people to look at my photography and feel things,” he asserts.
Lumax's work is a combination of photojournalism and commercial photography and he has been handling projects for Nike for the past three years shooting its yearly national basketball campaign. “That's my biggest commercial success,” he says, “Because here's a worldwide company hiring this no-name photographer to represent their advertisement,” he says of his very first contract with the company. His work can be seen every Tuesday in the New York Post as part of "The City is Watching" campaign.
“Overall, my biggest accomplishment was just going back to Ghana and being able to capture the land of my family from all different perspectives.
“Just being able to go throughout Ghana , the villages, the city, to capture images that represent where I come from, where my family is from; whenever I look at those photos, they have extreme meaning,” he adds.
In December 2006, Lumax jumped on an opportunity to visit Ghana since his last stay at age four. Though reconnecting with family and friends was a reason for his visit, a huge part was his involvement with African Health Now, a non-profit organization that hosted a health fair in Ghana to educate some of the country's citizens about health care.
“Those few things in terms of family and just experiencing the culture of Ghana made my trip so amazing,” he says with what appeared to be left-over excitement.
Lumax expects to be traveling some more in the near future and begin capturing images like the one he has created with Ghana . Another project he intends to devote time to involves African soccer and filming a documentary on the Right to Dream Academy established in Ghana.
What is ironic about his name “Stoneface” is that he attempts to overturn its implication through photography. “I try not to do too much directing or setting up a shoot. I just sort of capture emotion as it happens, so I think if I had to use a word to describe my work, it'll probably be “Natural Emotion,” he explains.
To view more of Lumax's incredible work, go to www.stonefacephotography.net
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