‘There is a long history of women reclining on chaises longues in paintings. I wanted to place myself within that history. I bought the heels in New York – but the gloves, collar, fishnets and mask are mine’
In March 1998, I was in Syracuse, New York, for the month, creating some new work. I had no plans to take this photo – the project was not self-portraits – but that’s one of the beauties of photography: you can go somewhere with specific ideas and then create something else.
I was walking along the street when I saw a chaise longue in a shop. It just called to me. I loved the simplicity of its design and its colour, white, which I knew would contrast well against my black skin. So I bought it! There is a long history of women reclining on chaises longues in paintings: one of my favourites is Olympia, by Édouard Manet. I was also inspired by the work of the early 20th century US photographer EJ Bellocq, who took images of female sex workers, some on a chaise longue.
Ajamu: The Patron Saint of Darkrooms is at Autograph, London, until 2 September. His work is also in (Un)Defining Queer at The Whitworth, Manchester, until 3 December.
