Photographer Dean Majd presents his solo debut exhibition, "Hard Feelings," at BAXTER ST at the Camera Club of New York. The show compiles a decade of intimate photographs documenting his inner circle of skateboarders and graffiti writers in Queens, a community he joined after the death of his childhood friend James. The work captures communal joys, rites of passage, and the dangers of their lifestyle, while also serving as a dedication to his friend Suba, who died from an accidental overdose in 2020.
The exhibition matters for its profound exploration of masculinity, grief, and community. Majd deconstructs performances of masculinity, revealing the fragility and emotional toll beneath, and subtly embeds his Palestinian-American identity and the impact of state violence. The images, born from deep trust over years, offer a tender yet unflinching look at life, death, and the cyclical nature of violence, positioning personal experience within a broader political context.