Emanuel Wallace

About the Artist

Emanuel Wallace (b. 1981, Cleveland, United States) is a photographer based in Cleveland. Through his work, he captures moments that might otherwise be forgotten, preserving them as visual stories that connect with people and ensure they are remembered and appreciated.

Wallace draws inspiration from photographers Jamel Shabazz and Gordon Parks, whose work highlights the beauty in ordinary life. Both Shabazz and Parks excel at finding powerful

stories in everyday scenes, turning the mundane into the extraordinary. Their ability to reveal meaning in the details inspires Wallace to explore and share the hidden beauty in his surroundings, both in Cleveland and beyond.

While Wallace’s educational background is in business management—he holds both a bachelor's degree and an MBA—his passions have always been photography and writing. Since 2014, he has served as the staff photographer for Scene Magazine. In 2022, his contributions to photojournalism were recognized with the Allen E. Cole Excellence in Photojournalism Award from the Greater Cleveland Association of Black Journalists, a Room in the House Fellowship from Karamu House and the Verge Fellowship from Cleveland Arts Prize.

In 2016, Wallace self-published Talent in the City, a photographic chronicle of the Columbus, Ohio, hip-hop scene from 2009 to 2012. His recent exhibitions include Street Sense and Sensibility, Lift Up a Child, Yellow is the Color of Sunrays, A Renaissance is Now, Afrofuturism: Black Lives Will Exist in the Future and The Nature of Healing

Artist's Connection to the Mission

My project title is Love in Carnations: A Tribute to Black Family, Community and Healing. This project is intended to shed light and bring honor to the Black nuclear family, Black healers and Black facilitators. We are often subjected to so many negative stereotypes and misconceptions when it pertains to the Black family. Especially fathers. This is my way of bucking against that.  Also the doulas and healers in the community are only marginally recognized. I want to help change that.