Maachew Bentley Launches "Return The World" Project To Support Outdoor Afro Network
A charitable initiative merging photography and music.
Maachew Bentley is a multifaceted creative based in Queens, New York who just launched a charitable photo- and music-based initiative called “Return The World.” Inspired by the Gundam Wing 00 film of the same title, the project features a series of conceptual prints, shot by Bentley, depicting a male subject clad in a military vest decorated with flowers traversing through woodland.
In regards to the motivations behind the film, Bentley expressed: “’The Return The World’ project is about repair and elevation in the wake of our seeming perpetual trauma, replacing bombs with books and a blossoming release of transcendental energy. It was shot over a few seasons between 2017 and 2018. In the video we offer tribute to the Mother Earth/Gaia/Sophia as we release the flowers into the river stream to germinate a familiar yet growing reverent force. A shaman ritual foreshadowing the need to get in tune with Earth and the Divine Feminine.”
18 Percent of proceeds from the music and photo purchases will go to support the Outdoor Afro Network — a non-profit started by Rue Mapp. The organization brings awareness and more inclusion in the outdoors. View the film above and then visit Maachew Bentley’s website to learn more.
Elsewhere in art, Chase Hall and February James explore Black identity in intimate portraits.
