Yoo, I'm Mike Gray, a film photographer with a deep love for storytelling — blending cinematic stills, intimate portraiture, and staged scenes to pull viewers into the world I create. I was born in Houston, Texas, and after the murder of my father, my family relocated to Dallas when I was nine years old. That loss shaped my identity, and I found refuge in the arts over time. It wasn't until after high school that I began seriously exploring my creativity, eventually moving to Los Angeles in 2010 to pursue it fully. While I've only recently honed in on photography, I've spent over a decade immersed in the artistic world. My work is best known for honoring and elevating people of color — drawing inspiration from historical events to reimagine a world where we're seen, empowered, and centered. Each image I create is its own narrative, blending reality and fiction to reshape how the past is remembered and how the future can be imagined. Through these staged moments, I transform everyday individuals into powerful, almost mythic figures — not just to shock but to provoke reflection on the social and political systems that have shaped us. With so much already accomplished in just the first year and a half of my photography journey, I'm committed to pushing boundaries, amplifying my community, and ensuring our stories are told and felt.

I'm passionate about what I do because I believe storytelling through imagery can rewrite history — or at least how it's remembered. As a Black artist, my photography isn't just about aesthetics; it's about creating space for African Americans to be seen in ways we've often been denied — with dignity, power, tenderness, and complexity. Growing up, I didn't see many images reflecting our experience's richness or nuance. That absence made me want to create the visuals I wish I'd grown up with — ones where Black people aren't just present but central and depicted with intentional beauty. By placing us in historical scenes where we were either erased or misrepresented, I aim to reclaim our narrative and reimagine the past through a lens of empowerment. Photography allows me to preserve memory, challenge perception, and offer hope — especially to those who have never seen themselves reflected with care. That's why I'm passionate about this work. It's personal. It's necessary. And it's my way of honoring where we've been while helping shape where we're going.

I picked up my first camera during the height of the pandemic in 2020, but I've been a storyteller long before that — I didn't always have the tools to express it visually. Growing up in Houston and later Dallas, I always observed, processed, and tried to make sense of the world around me. After losing my father at a young age, storytelling became a quiet way for me to hold on to memory, meaning, and identity — even if I didn't realize it at the time.

My favorite part about what I do is the people — hands down. I've had the honor of meeting so many beautiful human beings through this journey, and every time I get to place them in a world they're not usually seen in, it reminds me why I started. 📸

Purchase “FAR AWAY FROM HOME” at mikegrayfilm.com 📕