Underexposed

From lockdown to the uprising, “TrapLanta” was there, forcing viewers to look with new eyes on a world they thought they knew.

- By Jamilah King

''TRAPLANTA'' IS A living portfolio of photographs taken by Willis, a mononymous, 36-year-old Navy reservist and art student who lives in Marietta, about 30 minutes north of Atlanta. He describes his work, which he posts on Instagram under the handle @_traplanta_, as “Southern vernacular, urban reportage, fine art journalism.” The images he captures a range from Day-Glo glimpses of strip clubs to resolutely matter-of-fact portraits of neighborhood drug corners, each photo accompanied by an archly oblique caption. Take the photo of the bottom half of a person fanning out more than 18 $100 bills on the ground. Only a pair of dark hands, legs, and bright white Air Force 1s are visible. The photo is juxtaposed with a bit of history, gleaned from Wikipedia: “James ‘Honest Dick’ Tate was a Kentucky State Treasurer, so-called due to his good reputation.” In reality, he had quietly misappropriated over $250,000 ($7 million in present value) from the treasury. In 1888, he fled the state with a sack of gold and silver coins and was never seen again.”

The photos are addressed to two audiences at once, demanding that each scramble its subjectivities: Willis wants people in the hood to see their environment through fresh eyes, and he wants people who don’t live there to see it with the matter-of-factness of someone who does.