“We Can’t Breathe..” they say

The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25, 2020, sent ripples of anger and sorrow that crossed borders and shattered silences around the world. For the Black community, particularly in Berlin, it felt like an old wound torn open—a reminder of a pain that refuses to heal. In lockdown, when people were asked to stay apart, there was a burning need to come together, to resist and to grieve.

The multiple portraits depict a social experiment itself. I think this series is about the Black experience, but it is not only about race, oppressors, or the ones being oppressed. The artwork embodies the grief pain and sadness a community can feel share and urge to express.

In Berlin, artist Nella Aguessy—through their alter ego BigMotha—answered that call. Turning to social media, they reached out to Berlin's Black community, inviting them to transform their pain and fury into something cathartic, something that would last longer than the moment. BigMotha’s vision was clear: photography as a language, a weapon, a balm. It was about capturing not just faces but a community's soul, amplifying voices that have been too often muted, and creating a testament that couldn’t be ignored.

The project came to life in black and white, each portrait captured on analog medium-format film, as raw and honest as the emotions behind it. Nella invited each subject to join them in a moment of exchange—an open, unfiltered conversation—before guiding them into the frame. Against a dark background and under a stark, unforgiving spotlight, their subjects stood, each one holding a sign they had written themselves. These weren’t just statements; they were urgent messages, declarations of existence, fragments of resistance that spoke to anyone who would listen.

What emerges from these portraits is more than just an archive of a time in history—it’s a collective heartbeat, a communion of loss, strength, and defiance. Each image is a demand to be seen and heard, a quiet rebellion carved out of light and shadow. For Nella, this wasn’t simply a project; it was a moment suspended in film, a reminder of the resilience woven into the fabric of Berlin’s Afro-European community. Here, grief finds its voice, and resistance becomes something you can see and feel—a testament to the relentless, unbreakable spirit that refuses to be silenced.