Daveed Baptiste knows the power of art.
It turned school bullies into friends. It turned him into a wedding photographer as a teenager. It took him from Miami to New York City to the pages of Vogue magazine. And, it got him $25,000 to do whatever he wants.
YoungArts, a Miami-based nonprofit that supports emerging young artists throughout their careers, announced Thursday that Baptiste won the 2023 Ashley Longshore Excellence in the Arts Award for his achievement and skill in photography. The recognition comes with an unrestricted cash prize of $25,000 along with mentorship and educational opportunities.
“It felt so good to get that award on so many different levels,” Baptiste said.
At age 26, Baptiste has been busy leaving his mark in fashion, art and photography. Born in Haiti and raised in Miami, Baptiste draws heavy inspiration from his Haitian-American heritage and community. He is a fashion designer and photographer who earned a full ride to Parsons School of Design in New York and was the 2016 YoungArts winner in photography and visual arts. His work has been featured in Vogue, The New Yorker and in several exhibitions.
Baptiste’s photos are rich in color and nostalgia. He takes pride in exploring Haitian-American heritage and the day-to-day life of growing up in between two cultures. He designs and builds the sets for his photo shoots and captures striking images of people from his community.
He was awarded for his passionate and thoughtful approach to addressing identity and representation in his work, YoungArts said in its announcement. The award, which is in its second year, is open to YoungArts alumni 25 years or older who demonstrate excellence and ambition in theater, photography and visual arts. It is funded by artist Ashley Longshore.
“[Baptiste’s] work holds a magic, beauty and magnetism that I felt so strongly at first glance,” Longshore said in a statement. “The vibrancy and composition and narrative of his work is glorious! The world needs him. I am so excited to watch Daveed continue to grow as an artist.”
For Baptiste, learning about the award felt like getting “a surprise birthday party” from YoungArts. Photography grants can be hard to come by, especially in this amount of money, he said. He plans on investing the prize money right back into his photography.
“I really believe in the images I’m making. I believe in the stories I’m trying to tell,” he said. “Before I buy myself a new pair of shoes, I’ll spend the money preparing one of those photo shoots. I’ve invested every waking moment to this.”
The big ‘yes’ moment
Baptiste immigrated from Haiti to Miami when he was 6. Throughout his childhood, he and his family moved from neighborhood to neighborhood, living in Overtown, North Miami and Little Haiti.
His family was his first introduction to art. His father painted as a side hustle, and his brother liked to draw. Baptiste, the second youngest of four children, was competitive with his siblings and decided to draw, too.
At school, Baptiste made a name for himself with his drawing skills. Kids would gather around him in the cafeteria to watch him draw. School bullies would asked him for drawings to give to their girlfriends as gifts.
Then came the 8th grade, and his life changed forever. Baptiste’s sister, also a creative, introduced him to the youth programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, he said.
MOCA offered different types of art classes daily. Baptiste took them all. That’s when his love for photography began, he said. The museum loaned him cameras to go home and shoot photos. He was encouraged to document his life and felt joy while photographing himself and his family.
Baptiste credits his days at MOCA and his siblings with nurturing his creativity and budding photography career.
It was the early to mid-2000’s, Baptiste recalled, so cellphone cameras were not the technology they are today. Taking photos on those loaned cameras felt and was special. The more he stuck with photography, the more people sought him out to photograph special occasions. By 17, he was shooting photos of weddings and baby showers.
Baptiste bounced around to different high schools because, as he put it, “if I didn’t like it, I left.” After auditioning three times, he finally got into Design and Architecture Senior High, his dream school. That is where he learned about YoungArts.
He applied, and got into that program, too.
“I think that was my first big ‘yes’ moment,” Baptiste said. “Like when every single ounce of your body is jumping in joy.”
Art from joy
In 2016, Baptiste moved to New York City chasing the dream. He saw other young creatives making it big and wanted to take the leap.
“Being from Miami, only knowing Miami your whole life, being an artist,” Baptiste said. “Doesn’t matter where you are in America, you kind of have this romantic idea about New York.”
His time there has served him well. His fashion photography appeared in the September 2020 issue of Vogue. His “Haiti To Hood” photo series made headlines. And he’s currently an artist-in-residence with Silver Art Projects in the World Trade Center in Manhattan. He gets a kick out of going to work in sweatpants and Crocs among businessmen in suits.
But there’s still no place like home. Sometime this fall, he said, he’ll make his return to the 305 to tell stories about Haitian-Americans that others won’t.
“There’s a whole Black Miami of stories that I feel like haven’t been explored,” he said.
Baptiste doesn’t just love what he does. He feels a spiritual connection to his artwork, and so do others.
One of his favorite images that he’s taken is “Hood Dandy,” a portrait of a young man in a durag seated at a brown plaid table and looking back at the camera. Baptiste remembers how much fun he had that day at the photoshoot with his friends and collaborators.
He didn’t realize it at the time, but the resulting photo would make waves both within and outside of the art world. Friends, fellow artists, complete strangers, art snobs and non-art snobs loved it. Instagram wanted to buy it for the company’s office. The image resonated with people on a deeper -- even spiritual -- level, Baptiste said.
“It came from a fun, joyful place, and then it took off into the world and became something much more,” he said. “That’s what most artists really want.”
This story was produced with financial support from The Pérez Family Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.