User:Ewakeley

Dana Scruggs
Dana Scruggs is an American photographer originally from Chicago but who has been working in New York City for the past seven years. After being rejected from many major magazines that didn't like Scrugg's style, she created her own magazine entitled SCRUGGS magazine which focused around her vision of the male body and form.

SCRUGGS magazine has been revolutionary in the sense that it has allowed Scruggs autonomy not only in her shooting and editing processes, but has become a place where the black body is not subject to the white gaze. Under her own direction, Scruggs photographs and organizes the entire publication, making the magazine more of a visual diary. She creates a safe space for those marginalized identities to feel empowered by seeing their own bodies reflected in magazines. This magazine became a pivotal point in Scruggs' career.

Since getting her break from SCRUGGS magazine, Scruggs has shot for many prestigious magazines who are drawn to her expression of form and the black male body. She has also begun to use her platform and growing fame to bring attention to other black identities within the photography industry such as assistants and stylists.

Dana shot ESPN's Body Issue, her first breakthrough into the industry. She became the first female black photographer to shoot for the Body Issue. Since her breakthrough, she has become the first black female to shoot the cover of Rolling Stone in the magazine's 50 year history. Scruggs continues to show success, shooting for prestigious publications such as Vanity Fair, TIME, Rolling Stone, Glossier, The New York Times, ESPN, Nike, and Apple.

Scruggs has been recently featured in the New York Times piece written and compiled by Deborah Willis highlighting the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the racial injustice of 2020 on artists of color. She has also been featured in the online exhibition "The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion," a show of artwork made possible by Aperture New York. The exhibition emphasizes the power of photography as a medium and challenges the idea that blackness is homogenous.