PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE ECOTONE
Marlon F. Hall’s photography, often double exposed, becomes an Ecotone — from the Greek eco (“dwelling place”) and tonos (“tension”) — a shared habitat where different ways of life meet, overlap, and grow in the fertile tension between perspectives.
The Ecotone holds space for the complexities of pain, promise, and the vast possibility of what it means to be human. Woven with musically scored audio stories and original poetry, Marlon’s work becomes a meditative tool — inviting viewers into stillness amidst life’s continual coming and going.
THE JOURNEY OF SENU
Marlon F. Hall (American) 2024 Materials: Framed double-exposed image 15x15 Double Exposure Image with Archival Ink on PVC (For Sale)
This photo features the story of an activist, basketball coach, poet, and entrepreneur. Egyptian- American Kode is what Emily Wapnik in her TED Talk calls, “a multi-potentialite”. What he does is prismatic but why he does it is central. He does what he does to create a way of “being” in the community that generates life through history and activism. While that is the end to his work in life, parts of the beginning of that work was catalyzed by a death. A loss he is faintly starting to recall. Kode witnessed his first generation Egyptian father being murdered by the police as a child. He does not remember the account consciously but the memories of the events are starting to come to him as dreams.
This meta-narrative below features the story of an activist, basketball coach, poet, and entrepreneur. Kode witnessed his first generation Egyptian father being murdered by the police as a child
He does not remember the account consciously but the memories of the events are starting to come to him as dreams.
MOONLITE
Marlon F. Hall (American) 2024 Materials: Framed double-exposed image 20 X24 Double Exposure Image with Archival Ink on PVC (For Sale)
Kode is re-narrating loss and pain into a new dream for an old community called “Greenwood”. Kode’s grandfather calls him “Senu” which means little brother or companion in Middle Egyptian. It is his grandfather’s way of connecting with and evoking the boy in the man that Kode is becoming. A tender embrace of a word that holds Kode close when his grandfather is speaking to him by phone from across continents.
HORSE DRAWN
Marlon F. Hall (American) 2024
Materials: Framed double-exposed images, found objects, upholstery, reclaimed screen printing frames. Recycled Screen Printing Frame 24” ( w) x 20” ( h) Double Exposed Photograph on PVC Archival Ink (Not For Sale)
These images feature Sassieon, a Grammy-nominated producer and Tulsa native, who returned home to be the father he didn’t have. Guiding his son, who is diagnosed with autism, he finds healing in their shared experiences, like visiting a pumpkin patch for the first time together. His journey transforms fatherhood into a meaningful narrative of care and connection.
“Although the massacre of 1921 was horrific and a national terrorist act of violence, Tulsa is not a graveyard. Tulsa is a garden, and Greenwood is its fruit. Gardens have decomposed elements of life in them as well, but they move through the cycle of life, death, and renewal.” - Marlon F. Hall, Artist and Anthropologist
A traditional film follows the arc of a narrative chronologically from chapter to chapter and from left to right. This Visual Poem features the story of Sassieon and his son Saint as a narrative support to the photographs. The film moves from stanza to stanza, more like a sonnet, driven by the heartbeat of the storyteller, original music, and a shapeless love for human possibility.
Sassieon TWO
Marlon F. Hall (American) 2024
Materials: Framed double-exposed images, found objects, upholstery, reclaimed screen printing frames. Recycled Screen Printing Frame 24” ( w) x 20” ( h) Double Exposed Photograph on PVC Archival Ink (For Sale)
This work showcases artist Marlon F. Hall’s commitment to community engagement. Living and loving in Tulsa, he has explored themes of resilience and transformation, inviting reflection on the history and potential of the Greenwood community. Tulsa is portrayed as a garden, symbolizing life, death, and renewal, emphasizing community growth.
Sassieon THREE
Marlon F. Hall (American) 2024
Materials: Framed double-exposed images, found objects, upholstery, reclaimed screen printing frames. Recycled Screen Printing Frame 24” ( w) x 20” ( h) Double Exposed Photograph on PVC Archival Ink (Not For Sale)
