Interview by Kehan Lai

In your photo where one girl is whispering to the other girl who traces her finger along the rim of a glass cup, how did you come up with that narrative and how did you direct them to perform in the way you wanted?

I made this image after focusing on making videos for some time. I wanted to make an image that suggested movement and sound, but that was still so that we could spend time with and unpack details, for example, the constellation formed by the crumbs on the table, the tiny lights in the background, and the small yellow hair clip in the woman’s hair. I missed the slowness and opportunity for deep looking of still photographs. I had also been thinking of care and intimacy amongst women, on what we inherit and pass on, and on what isn’t always visible, yet nonetheless present. Voice embodies the latter for me.

Although I had the specific gesture of the whisper in mind, I find it important to note that a crucial part of my process is based on intuition and on being open to what is revealing itself all around. My process lives somewhere between precise intention and chance. I asked my friends to perform the whisper gesture repeatedly for the camera. I asked them to actually tell each other a secret, so that after a brief moment, they were present in a way that was less aware of the camera. The rest was chance and responding to it quickly- noticing the cup of water, asking her to trace it’s rim, moving my body to include the woman in the background in the frame, working with the available light, all in a very short amount of time.

It’s easy to look back and map out my process, but in the moment it wasn’t always so clear. Intuition leads. I feel a pull to people, spaces, gestures, and materials. Often, it isn’t until later that I can articulate why. It wasn’t until later that I realized that the cup of water in this image is a smaller version of the glass vessel that my mother and I are lifting and moving in another image.

Can you talk about the cultural or historical reference/significance behind the photo of hands lifting up a glass of water? In other words, how does it refer to the “experiences of diasporic life” mentioned in your artist statement?

In this image, my mother and I lift and relocate a heavy and very full glass vessel of water. I made this image when I was processing the news that a close high school friend was now a neo nazi who wanted all of us gone. I wanted to be close to my mother and make something with her. I intuitively gravitated towards this gesture of collectively lifting a weight of some kind.

The image is malleable and is meant to transcend the conditions from which it stemmed from. I now read the image as touching upon collectivity, care, or about movement and relocation- this water was gathered somewhere and is being transported somewhere new. From this perspective, the image directly ties to my diasporic life. My dear friend Tova once interpreted the image as my mother and I removing the water from in between Massachusetts and Puerto Rico, as if to make the distance between places (or, I’d add, selves) smaller. This resonates deeply.

I noticed that you like to capture the in-between moments of a subject. Are you looking for any specific gestures of emotional nuances?

Yes. Often the gestures are premeditated, although not always. Typically I have a gesture in mind that I find symbolic (the cycle of tracing the rim of the cup, the lifting and relocating of a water vessel, the pull of the rope in separate directions), and I ask family, friends, or near-strangers to perform them for the camera. Sometimes I see someone move in a certain way that rings a bell for me, and I make a note of it, and have people re-perform it later. Body language excites me.

I am typically interested in gestures of care and intimacy. In general I’m excited by images where people are active, and by images that have visual movement. Especially since the Hurricanes in Puerto Rico and the subsequent onslaught of images of death and disaster, I feel a deep desire to make images that embody life.

Can you talk about the photographers that you look up to and how they influence the way you create works?

There are so many people to whom I am grateful for all of their inspiration. Most recently Ka-Man Tse’s book Narrow Distances was deeply moving for me. I’m particularly inspired by how she brings images from different locations, mostly Hong Kong and the US, together. Midway through the book I lose track of where I am. The book beautifully embodies nuances of diasporic life. I’m also inspired by the care and love depicted in her portraits and images of spaces, and the care and love through which she engages with the people she photographs. It is a relief to feel that.

I also love the work of Dru Donovan, Deanna Lawson, and Sam Contis.

WCW Questionnaire:

Describe your creative process in one word.

Intuition

If you could teach a one-hour class on anything, what would it be?

Some sort of photography/ intuition-honing/ astrology-inspired class where we also swim in the ocean

What was the last book you read or film you saw that inspired you?

Books: Living a Feminist Life by Sara Ahmed, Citizen by Claudia Rankine
Films: Fábrica Inútil by Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Mysterious Object at Noon by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

What is the most played song in your music library?

Mouhamadou Bamba by Orchestra Baobab

How do you take your coffee?

I try to resist and keep things slow when and where I can. But sometimes, you just need! So I take it black!

You can find more of Genesis’s work here.