A first look inside Jeano Edwards’ photobook dedicated to his personal view of Jamaica
Jeano Edwards’ first photobook, EverWonderful, is a tender love story dedicated to his native Jamaica. The Brooklyn-based photographer and filmmaker has been regularly returning to the island of his birth since 2018, capturing intimate moments with his camera each time. His appreciation for the people and the landscapes that surround them have naturally grown stronger as he has contemplated his own ideas around identity, home and belonging. And now the artist feels ready to bring these images together into one cohesive and seductively understated body of work.
“It’s important for me to be considerate with the work I make and how I share it. The images had to exist in a tangible form and a photobook was a natural medium to encapsulate the project,” says Edwards, who has shared two previous Jamaican stories with Nataal, the film Familiar Strangers, and fashion shoot Homecoming.
“My aim was very personal in terms of wanting to create and represent a certain aesthetic that I felt was more nuanced than how Jamaica is typically represented. I was focused on showcasing the very soft, quaint, mundane beauty that I see, instead of the flamboyant and more obvious aspect of the culture,” he adds. As such the book exudes a brilliant simplicity. Each image “says just enough and nothing more” as we’re presented with the essence of his relationship with Jamaica, one that is as elusive as it is heartfelt.
“My aim was to create a certain aesthetic that I felt was more nuanced than how Jamaica is typically represented”
When asked to pick any favourite shots, he responds: “One image that comes to mind is of my friend Danhai sitting on a couch in his house. He has a silver chain on with a cross pendant attached to it. We both grew up in the same neighbourhood and I used to go to a small shop run by his mom. But I have never been inside his house until the day I took that photo. The other image is of another good friend, Abby. She is leaning on a ladder outside her garden under a Jamaican apple tree. I remember this day well because it was the first time I’d ever seen one of these trees blossoming with its unique bright purple flowers.” EverWonderful indeed.