In conversation with Joel Quayson

Joel Quayson might be soft-spoken, but he’s the kind of friend who cheers loudest for others. However, he’s been finding a spotlight of his own recently. In only his second year of studying photography, Joel won the prestigious Dior Beauty Photography Award for How Do You Feel?, a vulnerable four-minute self-portrait that quietly split open the tender space between self-expression and cultural expectation. His film explores the coat-switching people need to do to fit in. In it, Joel doesn’t just pose a question to himself, but to anyone who’s ever shape-shifted to fit the room they’re in. His practice is grounded in honesty and longing: to be seen, to be understood, and to offer that same clarity back to others.

Currently studying at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, he gently explores identity and intimacy with a visual vocabulary that’s deeply personal. By revealing and embracing his vulnerabilities, Joel invites us into a quiet, raw dialogue, weaving the complexity of human experience into every frame. His work is both for him and for the people like him: those learning to live in the in-between.

Hey Joel! I’m glad to be speaking to you since you just got back from Arles. Where are you now? Physically, mentally, creatively?
I would say back to reality. Since I’ve been back from Arles for the Dior Photography Awards competition, it was like it didn’t even happen. I mean, it happened – I won, even. My work was presented there and all the people who saw the work were touched. And I got all these compliments. And then since I came back, it was just all reality again. 

I can imagine it’s been such a rush. A huge congrats on the Dior win, of course. Can you describe your winning work?
It’s about a memory of when I went out, I had two rhinestones on both my eyes, having fun with my friends, going clubbing, going to ballrooms, or just chilling. And then the moment when it’s time to go home, I just have to switch into how my mom should see me, taking out the rhinestones so that she wouldn’t have noticed. I tried to create this video work so that it’s easier to show how you have to change your identity to fit the world.

Your piece explores the tension between bold selfhood and family expectations. What did it feel like to give that struggle a visual voice?
Thank you. I would say it really changed me because doing this work was actually very personal. At first, I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to do it. But studying photography really raised me to do it anyway. I have to open myself someday! And I felt like this was the right moment. But doing this and then showcasing it for other viewers really opened me to be more vulnerable, telling my story and trying to embrace it for other people who feel the same way. This project is about me living with two personalities that are conflicting. It’s still hard to tell some stuff towards my family while they don’t understand or they don’t know how to accept that. While the other half of my life is easier because everyone knows what’s up and the people that you don’t know, they’re, like, okay, whatever you identify as, that’s fine.

It’s also really beautiful how you’re approaching it, even though it’s hard, that you’re not trying to put your parents in a bad daylight for not understanding.
No, I do love them. But even then it’s still hard that they don’t know how to accept it. Even though I haven’t told them yet. But they’re still in that world from where they grew up and raised from. And then, of course, they immigrated here. But while your kids are here, they’re also trying to fulfill the self of who they want to become. I still respect my culture, my religion and stuff. But I’m also being raised from what I see around me, or the people bonded with me and that’s just the beauty of it.

It’s a super personal story to share. Are you nervous about putting it out into the world? Especially now it’s getting a platform?
It’s already out. But it’s also being published. It will be exhibited in Paris next year. Everyone has seen it, and everyone will see it online. I don’t mind it. Maybe 10 years ago, it would have been very scary because it’s all new. I’m still living with my mom. But I’m 27 and I also have to live my life. So, why not? 

Would it be an easier way to tell them if they would see the video? Have you been able to share that you won?
You know, I still think about it, that showing them is an easier way than telling them. But then I’m also thinking, I don’t really have to because it’s still my decision.  I did, tell them i won. They were very proud, yes. Even though I still haven’t shown them the work, they’re very proud. My sister texted me when I arrived in Arles like, now we really do see that photography is meant for you. I mean, at first they weren’t sure how far it would take me. But now that they’re seeing this…

They’re really seeing that it’s not just some hobby! Who inspired you to even pick up the camera?
My family and friends. Even though it’s so hard for them to understand. And they’re also not from an artistry background, so it’s also quite difficult. But it still shows me that I’m not quitting my own passions. I won’t just give up and do something else instead of art. No, I decided just to go forward. And from friends, it’s everything. Like, the way they are, the way they look, everything that I love about them, pretty much. And, of course, media, like, music, TV series.

Every time I see something online that I like, I see you have already commented on it. I think it’s really inspiring to connect to things that you love so openly and wholeheartedly.
Yeah. Sometimes I feel like I’m doing too much, but I just love everything. I’ve never experienced all of this. I don’t have a family who has an art background. So seeing all this for the first time from the magazines, from people who are involved with magazines or the people who emerge, how they describe or identify themselves.

It’s really good to be so in touch with what’s going on. What’s one assumption that people often make about you that doesn’t quite line up with who you really are?
Well, there was a time that I had an argument with my mom about how I dressed. Even though it wasn’t really very out there, but more baggy instead of neat. She always said you have to change your life. That sentence really, really triggered me, and made me upset because I didn’t do anything wrong, harmful or bad. I’m not hurting anybody. It was also about going out too much, coming back home late, even though I’m just coming home before midnight. In their culture it is more that they like to see someone who’s neat, like a good person. I mean, even though it’s weird to say that I’m a good person, but, like, in a way…their idea of a good person is someone who goes to bed early and dresses tailored, I guess, it’s like a different box. I’m just me.

Do you ever look back at things that you made as a kid and think, my style was there even then?
I would say I haven’t changed at all. 

And when you tell stories that feel especially personal or raw like these, what keeps you moving forward creatively?
Especially that it’s not only sharing my story, but also raising voices for other people as well. Like, there’s a time that I went to Ljubljana on a field trip. I decided to capture queer people who live there and also tell their stories of how being a queer person in this environment. And luckily, it was all positive. I mean, still, there was some stuff that was close-minded. But overall, it was just positive. So, again, it’s, like, sharing my story, embracing my vulnerability, but also uplifting other people that kind of resonate with me.

What’s your big three (in astrology)? Do you feel like they reflect how you move through life well?
I’m obviously Sagittarius Sun. Taurus Moon and Leo Rising. I feel those three things really make sense. I like beautiful things. Not only when it’s perfect, but even when it’s raw or ugly. I’m honest, caring, especially for the people that I admire. Even though everyone says you also have to take care of yourself. I’m trying to. I would say I’m direct, and often sagittariuses are portrayed as rebellious. I’m rebellious sometimes, but I also take the rules quite seriously, because I don’t want to get in trouble. Even when I’m like, fuck it, just do it anyway, who gives a fuck, I’m doing it my own way, in my own tempo. 

Rebellion can come in small forms and it looks different for everybody.
Yeah! And I also would say a sagittarius thing about me is exploring, because that’s also the main point of my life. Exploring people, exploring who I am.

What’s your relationship to your camera? Is it more like a mirror, a friend, a diary?
It’s like everything, a really helpful tool. Because, before, I struggled with explaining, telling, or communicating with people. I was very shy at first. I got inspired by magazines, looking through how people are, posing, dressing up, how everything’s happening in just a page. I luckily got my first camera when I was 18. And I was capturing my friends having fun. And that was at first a hobby. But now it’s really opened me to say something, tell a story, and be honest about it. Capturing myself and how I feel and how I look. And it’s also like a diary. Because, like, you’re also capturing the days that you just want to remember again.

And what’s the last video you took on your phone?
The last video I have on my phone was taken after the ceremony. I was wandering around the city of Arles with my classmates. They were flexing their muscles and hugging, which was both funny and wholesome, so I had to capture it. It was amusing to compare both lifestyles. The day before, I was interacting with so many interesting people, and then the next day, I was just having fun with my classmates.”

What are your plans for the future?
I have no clue about my future plans, but I am very patient with it. Since I’m still in my 20s, why is there a rush? I just started, so I will wait and see what comes my way.

What’s one thing that you would tell your 13-year-old self right now?
Hold on, don’t give up. You will have people that will say you won’t make it or it won’t go well. And I know that I’ll probably fail in the future as well. But there’s so much in between too. Love what you’re doing. See it for yourself.