“Look closely at the present you are constructing: It should look like the future you are dreaming.” –Alice Walker 

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In a discussion hosted by The Hollywood Reporter, cinematographer Bradford Young describes this perspective as a filmmaker’s accent.

 

My accent story begins in Jamaica. My identity as a Caribbean American shows up in my work continuously through themes of displacement and self-acceptance. I was a little black girl from Inglewood, California, who wanted to be a cinematographer and director. To this day, I am not entirely sure where the conviction came. At the time, I had no knowledge or examples of cinematographers or directors that looked like me. However, I was blessed with a strong spirit and convinced myself that I, too, was capable of inspiring others through camerawork and operation.

 

My universal goal as a filmmaker is to create pieces that enlighten and provide new outlooks on established ideas and experiences. I found my voice while capturing the teary eyes of a mother in South LA who lost her child to gun violence and the dancing feet of orphans in the WEMA center of Mombassa, Kenya. Although these are not the only communities I aspire to depict in my work, these experiences have become my foundation, and these everyday people have informed my accent.