In his series, Story of O.J., after 4:44, Nxumalo presents a selection of portraits of young black men standing semi–nude with only their pants on, an occasional hat, but no shirts. They pose for Nxumalo’s camera in the tradition of tattooed gang members being studied by law enforcement lenses trained on their torsos for toll-tales of lived criminality.

It is something like a story told about the sculptor, Alberto Giacometti who was once asked about what he wanted to happen to his works when they’d ultimately have to leave the studio. He replied: “bury them in the earth, like that, they may be a bridge between the living and the dead.”