ByKennCook Photography

What an honor it was to document such a powerful moment in history. Rev. Jesse Jackson’s impact on this country and the world cannot be overstated. I’m still in awe of the legacy he leaves behind.

Thank you & for the opportunity

This morning I was reading writings from Dawoud Bey’s book Sleeping Deeply and thinking about what his photographs mean for Harlem, and for art more broadly.

I keep returning to how deeply his practice is rooted in relationships. As he says, “it is in those relationships, and the lives of the people that these relationships recall, that the deeper meaning of these photographs can be found.”

That idea keeps circling me back to my own project - From The Westside, With Love. I want the work to reflect how deeply rooted relationships shape life on the Westside, how much history, care, and memory lives inside them. These are relationships built over time, holding stories that are vast, layered, and often unseen, but deeply felt.

2025 was filled with so many memories and milestones.
It was a year of growth, uncertainty, and persistence — full of both highs and lows that pushed me in ways I didn’t expect. I’m deeply grateful for all of it, and I’m looking ahead to what 2026 has in store with intention and hope.

2025 Highlight: Museum Acquisition
Five of my works were acquired into the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago.

Works in the collection:
1. A House in Austin, Chicago’s West Side, 2024
2. Westside Grass, Chicago’s West Side, 2024
3. Snow Cones, Chicago’s West Side, 2024
4. 5700 Ski Mask, Chicago’s West Side, 2024
5. A Crown of Righteousness, Chicago’s West Side, 2022

Where love looks like home - Memphis 2025