Untitled (Early Works 1995–1999)

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These photomontages mark Forbes’ early investigations into the narrative and conceptual potential of photography, using the medium as a vehicle for critical inquiry. Produced between 1995 and 1999, the works were assembled through a cut-and-paste process, using photographs printed by Forbes himself in the darkroom. Importantly, these pieces predate his later engagement with digital technologies, such as Photoshop, which would become increasingly significant in his subsequent practice.

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Key early influences included László Moholy-Nagy and John Heartfield, whose politically charged montages demonstrated how visual fragmentation could be mobilised to challenge authority, expose the mechanisms of power, and resist fascism. Their strategies resonated strongly with Forbes, whose own narratives were concerned with right-wing politics and racialised violence. Creating these works also provided Forbes with a legitimate outlet for processing the tension and anger he felt in response to the ongoing realities of racialised politics.

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The works further demonstrate Forbes’ sustained questioning of religion, particularly Christianity, and its role in legitimising racialised hierarchies. He critiques how religious institutions historically reinforced systems of oppression, from the church’s sanctioning of the transatlantic slave trade to Christianity’s appropriation by the Ku Klux Klan.

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Forbes sourced imagery for the montages from a wide variety of materials, including film, television, photobooks, newspapers, and other found media. When working with film and television, he often photographed the monitor directly, capturing stills either on freeze-frame or while footage was in motion, thereby introducing chance and distortion into the compositions. He also incorporated references to the work of other artists encountered through television or film, producing a wider collective narrative, especially in relation to artists whose practices aligned conceptually with his own.

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In addition, Forbes inserted self-portraits into many of the montages, positioning himself simultaneously as subject and commentator. This strategy enabled him to draw analogies between his own lived experience and broader cultural narratives. Alongside these explorations, he examined the dynamics of sexual desire in relation to ethnicity and representations of the black male. Collectively, these early works interrogated racialised politics, fear, stereotypes, bias, and violence, while anticipating critical concerns that would continue to shape his artistic trajectory.