Paul Mpagi Sepuya

A self-published zine, SHOOT was produced by photographer Paul Mpagi Sepuya from 2005 to 2008. Each of the zine's issues was an experiment by the artist in conceiving of an extended portrait, using contact sheets, outtakes and text. The subjects were Sepuya's friends, muses and collaborators. Like many zines made at the time, these were photocopied on the job and at various copying centers, and the magazine retains much of the artist's hand as well as the idiosyncratic hallmarks of the copy machine that have come to define queer zines since the 1970s. This book brings together, for the first time, all seven issues of the magazine, which are highly sought-after due to the scarcity of the originals today.
This early publication by Sepuya showcases the photographic practice that the artist has become known for over the last two decades. Glimpses of the artist can be found throughout the portraits in SHOOT (including one issue devoted to his own self-portrait), as can the mechanics of photography, drawing a line from this early work to his renowned Dark Room series and ongoing portrait-based practice.
Paul Mpagi Sepuya (born 1982) is a Los Angeles–based photographer whose projects simultaneously recall and challenge the history of the medium. Sepuya brings a perspective that emphasizes queerness in questioning the singularity of portraits and the dialogue among artist, subject(s) and collaborator.

In his portraits and studio photographs, the American artist and photographer Paul Mpagi Sepuya (born 1982) blends sensual intimacy with visual precision. Capturing intimate encounters with friends-cum-collaborators, Sepuya scrupulously constructs compositions that insist on queer and Black subjectivity in photography. Through the deliberate placement of mirrors, fabrics and studio props, Sepuya stages a seductive interplay of exposure and concealment as he engages bodies and gazes in a dynamic web of relations—reflected, refracted, fragmented, multiplied and woven into new configurations. By laying bare the act of photographing, Sepuya pulls viewers into the complex dynamics of looking and desire, which he continually negotiates and subtly shifts.
Featuring works from early and recent series, this paperback includes extensive ephemera drawn from the artist’s personal archive as well as a collection of commissioned essays.