Veteran, Community Builder & Photo Essayist
eli is a Chicago-based photographer and photo essayist whose work centers the African diaspora through presence, care, and relational truth. Trained in Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism at the International Center of Photography, his long-form project The Four Virtues explores Fatherhood, Work, Wonder, and Fellowship as lived values for Black men and boys. His practice is shaped by a background in nonprofit leadership and his service as an Army veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, informing an ethical, place-based approach grounded in accountability to community.
Visit eli's portfolio for the images and photo essays.
Evanston Art Center · announcement
Evanston Art Center introduces eli’s use of street photography and written reflection to portray Black fathers and challenge damaging stereotypes. The announcement explains the project’s connection to community, lived experience, and the cultural contributions of the African diaspora.
Learn MoreFamily Action Network · listing
Community listing: Family Action Network shares the exhibition and describes eli’s use of photography and written exposition. The listing does not establish a separate publication date.
Learn MoreNewcity Art · Susan Aurinko
Susan Aurinko examines how the FatherHood photographs counter stereotypes through everyday scenes of tenderness and care. Her review focuses on fathers with their children in public spaces and the power of presenting these ordinary relationships as worthy subjects of art.
Learn MoreThe Daily Northwestern · Jack Austin
Jack Austin speaks with eli, art-center staff, viewers, and eli’s father about the FatherHood exhibition. The feature explores the dignity of everyday caregiving, the emotional response of visitors, and eli’s practice of sharing photographs with the fathers he portrays.
Learn Moreeli’s photography was included in Harmony in Hue, a group exhibition curated by Fran Joy at BP’s Chicago headquarters in 2024. Bringing together 26 Black artists, the exhibition celebrated Black artistry and created space for a range of perspectives and creative practices. Explore the exhibit booklet for a closer look at the exhibition.
Bahá’í House of Worship · showcase
Artist profile: the Bahá’í House of Worship’s 2024 archive lists eli and the works The Throne, Birds Eye View, and The Ride.
Learn MoreEvanston Art Center · listing
Exhibition listing: Evanston Art Center presents Work, January 12–February 18, 2024, connecting images of Black men’s labor with written exposition. Date shown is the exhibition opening.
Learn MoreNewcity Art · Susan Aurinko
Susan Aurinko reviews Work as a tribute to Black men’s labor across different occupations. She considers how the photographs and accompanying writing challenge assumptions about motivation, invite respect for workers, and show eli’s development since the FatherHood exhibition.
Learn MoreHeart & Soul · interview
In this staff interview, eli describes learning from his photographer father and finding the impetus for The Four Virtues in an encounter with a Black father and his children. He connects the images to dignity, community responsibility, and the importance of recognizing Black men and boys as contributors to society.
Learn MoreBahá’í House of Worship · showcase
The Bahá’í House of Worship’s community art archive presents eli’s photographs alongside his biography. The selection includes Work — BellHop Blues, Wonder — Gentle Observations, and Fatherhood — From the Cradle to the Spokes, connecting different chapters of The Four Virtues.
Learn MoreInternational Center of Photography · showcase
The International Center of Photography includes eli’s work in its showcase of graduates from the 2025 online documentary-practice program. The exhibition places his photographs within an international cohort developing long-form visual stories through mentorship and sustained documentary inquiry. The year identifies the graduating cohort.
Learn MoreEvanston Art Center · listing
Exhibition listing: Evanston Art Center presents Wonder, January 11–February 16, 2025, exploring Black boyhood and the tension between wonder and vigilance. Date shown is the exhibition opening.
Learn MoreNewcity Art · Susan Aurinko
Susan Aurinko considers Wonder through photographs of Black boyhood and eli’s accompanying poems, Black Boy Blue and Wonder is The Woman. She discusses the tension between childhood freedom and vigilance, while noting changes in the framing, printing, and presentation of the third exhibition.
Learn MoreThe Daily Northwestern · Clare Kirwan
Clare Kirwan traces the origins of The Four Virtues and explains how Wonder presents Black men and boys in unguarded, everyday moments. Interviews with eli and art-center staff illuminate the wish to replace constant vigilance with curiosity, and to give familiar lives the visibility of fine art.
Learn MoreSouth Side Drive · Joy Williams
Joy Williams profiles eli’s South Shore upbringing, education, military experience, and return to community work in Chicago. This is broader biographical context for the person behind the photographs, rather than a review of an exhibition or an article focused on his photography.
Learn MoreSouth Side Drive · contributor credit
The August 2025 issue of South Side Drive names eli among its contributing photographers. This masthead credit records his participation in the magazine’s visual coverage of Chicago’s South Side; it is a professional credit rather than an interview or critical review.
View publication ↗Evanston Made · announcement
Evanston Made’s calendar shares the Fellowship exhibition announcement and its focus on spaces of learning, connection, and healing among Black men and boys. This is a community event notice rather than an independent review. The listing was identified in the earlier coverage search; its full page could not be reloaded during this update.
Learn MoreThe Network Journal · Taroue Brooks
Taroue Brooks asks eli about family legacy, visual storytelling, and the meeting point of documentary and fine-art photography. eli discusses portraying subjects with dignity, balancing creative independence with selling work, and developing his practice through the International Center of Photography.
Learn MoreBahá’í House of Worship · Group 31
The 2026 community showcase includes eli’s images under titles such as Work, Wonder, The Glow, Fellowship Chess, Not Checkers, and The Barbershop. His biography accompanies the selection, linking his photographic practice with the effort to challenge limiting narratives about the African diaspora.
Learn MoreThe Daily Northwestern · Regan Huizenga
Regan Huizenga follows The Four Virtues from its first subway photograph to the final Fellowship installment. Interviews with eli, art-center staff, and Sylvia Jones explore his artistic growth, the role of cooperation in the new images, and what it means for Black viewers to see familiar lives represented as fine art.
Learn MoreChicago Gallery News
Chicago Gallery News lists Fellowship at Evanston Art Center, extending the exhibition’s visibility through its regional arts calendar. This is an exhibition record rather than a critical review; the date identifies the beginning of the show.
Learn MoreEvanston Art Center · listing
Evanston Art Center introduces Fellowship as the fourth part of The Four Virtues, exploring the spaces and rituals through which Black men and boys learn, grow, and heal together. The institutional listing documents the January 24–March 1, 2026 exhibition run and explains how the images connect to eli’s service and community experience.
Learn MorePatch · Evanston
The Evanston Patch calendar carries the art center’s invitation to Fellowship, with exhibition dates, location, and free public access information. This community-submitted notice shares the exhibition with neighborhood readers; it is not an independent review.
Learn MoreWTTW News · Josh Terry
Josh Terry includes Fellowship in WTTW News’s weekend cultural recommendations. The short item introduces eli’s exploration of spaces where Black men and boys learn and heal together, and directs readers to the exhibition and its opening reception.
Learn MoreChoose Chicago · listing
Choose Chicago’s event calendar promotes Fellowship to visitors and local audiences, describing the exhibition’s interest in shared spaces and rituals of Black manhood. The date identifies one calendar occurrence during the exhibition run, rather than an article publication date.
Learn MoreSupport eli’s visual practice by exploring his photographs, collecting his work, and making space for the stories he brings into view.