ByKennCook Photography

What an honor it was to document such a powerful moment in history. Rev. Jesse Jackson’s impact on this country and the world cannot be overstated. I’m still in awe of the legacy he leaves behind.

Thank you & for the opportunity

Layered. Generational. Alive.
Still here.

Chicago’s Westside, 2025.

Teenage Fever, Chicgao’s Westside 2024

I love making images showing the intensity of adolescence alongside the many forms of love I witness every day - romantic, friendship, and the deep care that holds the community together.

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Black History in the making is Black Life Today and every day

This morning I was reading writings from Dawoud Bey’s book Sleeping Deeply and thinking about what his photographs mean for Harlem, and for art more broadly.

I keep returning to how deeply his practice is rooted in relationships. As he says, “it is in those relationships, and the lives of the people that these relationships recall, that the deeper meaning of these photographs can be found.”

That idea keeps circling me back to my own project - From The Westside, With Love. I want the work to reflect how deeply rooted relationships shape life on the Westside, how much history, care, and memory lives inside them. These are relationships built over time, holding stories that are vast, layered, and often unseen, but deeply felt.

Chicago’s Westside, 2025

Flowers don’t rush. Neither do we. Growth on the Westside comes from care, pressure, and showing up anyway.

2025 was filled with so many memories and milestones.
It was a year of growth, uncertainty, and persistence — full of both highs and lows that pushed me in ways I didn’t expect. I’m deeply grateful for all of it, and I’m looking ahead to what 2026 has in store with intention and hope.

2025 Highlight: Museum Acquisition
Five of my works were acquired into the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago.

Works in the collection:
1. A House in Austin, Chicago’s West Side, 2024
2. Westside Grass, Chicago’s West Side, 2024
3. Snow Cones, Chicago’s West Side, 2024
4. 5700 Ski Mask, Chicago’s West Side, 2024
5. A Crown of Righteousness, Chicago’s West Side, 2022

Where love looks like home - Memphis 2025

Memphis, TN 2025

Found this old treehouse in Memphis. A quiet reminder of the worlds we build as kids, and how they linger long after we’ve grown.

This year has been full of blessings. Photography has taken me into rooms, neighborhoods, and moments I’ll never forget, and I’m grateful for every opportunity that found me.

To wrap up the year with my first solo show on the Westside, at The BLK Room .blkroom feels incredibly special.

“Echoes of Home” will be up until January 30, 2026

Today in Little Village, community members and local leaders came together after Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino threatened to send agents back into the neighborhood.

What really struck me was the strength and determination I saw in that crowd. In a moment that could have felt hopeless, people showed up with courage, love, and a fierce commitment to protect their home. They’re not running. They’re not backing down.

Instead, they’re taking their fight right to the streets, standing up to intimidation, and showing what it means to defend a community. Watching this kind of unity in action, it’s a reminder that even in the face of fear, people can come together and create real power.