A Vernacular Response by Rapheal Begay

Issue 135

A Vernacular Response is a photographic series that represents everyday moments and diverse aspects of the Navajo Nation. In support of the visual legacy of the Diné way of life, the documentation of environment creates a moment that celebrates and interrogates its source of creation. Furthermore, it is the preservation of the Navajo people and the serendipitous nature found within the everyday; art as experience. In line with self-determination and visual sovereignty, A Vernacular Response contributes to a never-ending Diné past, present, and future.

As a form of contemporary Navajo storytelling, the series also acts as a (re)collection of intimate moments tied to my own understanding and relationship to my surroundings. In practice, the series of images activates Indigenous perspective, imagination, and life. As a photographer, I choose to document the cultural landscape so as to honor our place in the world so that we may understand connection in new ways. #WeAreSacred

Rapheal Begay (Diné) lives and works in Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of Navajo Nation.
To view more of Rapheal’s work, please visit his website or find him on Instagram @rapheal_begay.

View Rapheal’s print as part of our Print Sale Fundraiser
*50% of proceeds from sales will be donated to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and 50% will go to the artist. In support of the Fraction Print Sale Fundraiser, the remaining 50% of proceeds will be donated by the artist to the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund.