These Striking Photos Explore A Big Problem In The Corporate World

Endia Beal made a splash on the internet (and in the art world) with her 2013 series, Can I Touch It? The photographs — of white women with typically Black hairdos posed for corporate-style photos — are striking, and they sparked a conversation about how women of color are perceived in the workplace.

Following that success, Beal, who is an associate professor of art and the director of Diggs Gallery at Winston-Salem State University, has started a new series, Am I What You're Looking For?, which captures young women among the trappings of their childhood homes. The subjects are dressed as they would for a job interview, and they pose before the backdrop of a drab, corporate hallway.

Beal is very much interested in the idea of "the other" and the lack of positive portrayals of young women in the corporate world. We chatted with Beal to learn more about the series and what she tells her young students — who are getting ready to make their way in a working world that tends to be hostile toward anyone who doesn't fit within a very specific mold.

Click through for more of Beal's innovative photos from Am I What You're Looking For? The series is on exhibition at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts at Appalachian State University through December 19, 2015. Click here for more info on Endia Beal.