Between Us, The Gaze:
Ajamu X/ FIERCE: Pittsburgh

Documentary Film

Between Us, The Gaze: Ajamu X / FIERCE: Pittsburgh, directed by Rainbow Serpent co-founders Marques Redd and Mikael Owunna, is a short documentary film and media project created in conjunction with the exhibition FIERCE: Pittsburgh. Centered on the legendary British photographer Ajamu X, the film offers an intimate portrait of Black queer connection, artistic lineage, and the political urgency of being seen.

Through behind-the-scenes moments, sitter reflections, archival images, and philosophical meditations, the film traces how the global FIERCE portrait series arrived in Pittsburgh and why it matters here, now. The title foregrounds the central ethical and erotic question of Ajamu’s practice: what happens between us – between photographer and subject, between one Black queer life and another – when we pause, witness, and record.

The film also includes a glimpse of new work: Redd and Owunna’s collaborative cosmological portrait X (Nu/Apuat/Geb) and Owunna’s portrait Ajamu X. This inclusion honors Ajamu’s influence and extends it, embodying a shared visual language across generations and across the Atlantic.

Moving beyond mere documentation, Between Us, The Gaze is a cinematic offering: an archive, a ritual, and a celebration of those who refuse to be invisible.

Directed By: Marques Redd & Mikael Owunna

Production and Videography: Rainbow Serpent

Editing and Color: Saltbox Films

Featuring:

Ajamu X

Ajmal 'MAS MAN' Millar

Bekezela Mguni

Darian Reynolds

Devan Shimoyama

Fred Quinn III

Kai Walker

Marques Redd

Michael Tikili

Mikael Owunna

Mikyle Johnson

Mo Marshall

Norman Brown

Rian Louis

Ricky Davii

Special Thanks:

ALMA | LEWIS & Kilolo Luckett

PA Humanities

Silver Eye Center for Photography

The Heinz Endowments

The Opportunity Fund

The Pittsburgh Foundation

Screenings

2026

Pittsburgh, PA: Silver Eye Center for Photography, March 5 -May 2, 2026