“Edouard Manet’s early work Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe (1863) caused great upheaval. Not because the woman was naked, but because she was shown with two men who were fully clothed. She also stares at the viewer in a challenging manner. By reversing the roles, our version calls to question the way in which men and women are pigeonholed in society, and challenges the stereotype of viewing only females as sex objects. Our stylist for the shoot also questioned our focus on race, which brought about a dialogue on what stereotypes lead to discrimination, forcing us to deal with our own stereotypes.”

—Epaul Julien and Elizabeth Kleinveld