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Arnold Hinton’s photography focuses on social justice and humanity, drawing parallels between the racism and oppression experienced by Jews in concentration camps to the experience of African Americans.

Arnold recently visited concentration camps in Berlin and Vienna. “In America if you were Black, you were a slave, you picked cotton and sugar cane and that was it,” said Arnold. “But to see how the Germans built these camps/houses with sinks and toilets and wash basins for people that you were going to annihilate– to me, it made no logical sense.” Despite facing his own share of systemic barriers and societal prejudices, his work conveys a sense of activism and empathy, calling for a dialogue that bridges the past to the present.

Growing up, Arnold found solace and inspiration in drawing, a medium that allowed him to articulate his emotions. Influenced by Norman Rockwell’s depictions of American life, particularly “The Problem We All Live With”, Arnold found his passion in photography after taking a course at Pratt Institute and discovering storytelling through the lens of a camera. “Creativity is a natural talent. Being an artist is like the emperor who has no clothes on, because when you create something and let it free, the world will see it as whatever it is, and they will give critiques, good or bad,” he said. Through his photography, he continues to seek out the positive while offering his own perspective on history and identity.
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