How Love and Art Collide: The Story of Bee and Rog Walker, Icons And A Powerful Collaboration With Adidas
Love is the seed from which all great creations grow — a force that transforms fleeting moments into lasting legacies. In a world where art often reflects the human experience, it is love that fuels the deepest connections and inspires authentic storytelling. Bee & Rog Walker, the visionary duo behind Paper Monday, exemplify this harmony, demonstrating how relationships rooted in genuine understanding and shared purpose can evolve into powerful collaborations. Their work, resonating not only through their intimate portraits and documentaries but also through their partnership with adidas, showcases how love and art are fundamentally intertwined. When hearts and creative spirits unite, they give birth to art that reflects the soul’s most sacred truths—art that nourishes, transforms, and leaves an indelible mark on history.
FEATURE INTERVIEW:
So first, I would love it if you could do a quick intro. Who are you? What do you do?
Bee: I’m Bee Walker.
Rog: I’m Rog Walker.
Bee: And together we work under a studio name Paper Monday. We take photographs and make documentaries. Mostly what we do is meet people and get to know them. Hopefully, tell something beautiful about them to the world or capture their likeness for themselves to be remembered or [build legacy] in their family, so they have images and they have a record of them being here.
Rog: I’ll just add to that – that’s what we do professionally. I think more so than anything else, we’re a family of three. We have a beautiful little girl and that’s how we like to exist in the world. We make movies to make her happy. That’s what we’re here for.
That’s beautiful. So, let’s start where it all began. Not the work, but the love. How did the two of you meet? At what point did you realize like we don’t just love each other, we create magic together?
Bee: So, we met 14 years ago – in February 2011. I don’t even know how to explain it. We just made sense together. We were like, “Oh, let’s keep doing this.” So, that’s just what we did. We started hanging out. Roger was already taking pictures in the city, and I’ve always loved New York. I wasn’t living there at the time, but I wanted to be—and it was a really good excuse to be hanging out. And yeah, there was a point, at least for me, where what we were doing—taking pictures, meeting people, being in the city, just being expressive and trying to live and be whatever—that started to have momentum.
It started to include not just the two of us, but so many other people who were doing the same thing. I met so many wonderful people who are still friends to this day. And then our work started having an impact on other people, which is when I think I began to realize—oh, this isn’t just a relationship that’s our thing. Our work is actually affecting people, and it’s taking us to places we hadn’t been before. It really opened up a whole world for me, and I think that happened pretty early on. Yeah, it’s interesting.
Rog: Well, like B said, we met in 2011, and it was a pretty interesting time for me—I was going through a breakup, and I took that time to create a piece called A Love Story. It was released on Valentine’s Day. It was this kind of heartbreak story that B came across, and when we first met, she said, “Oh my gosh, I saw A Love Story, and it felt like a real movie.” I was just kind of shocked that anyone had even seen it or cared about it.
For me, that was the moment I realized that putting your emotions out there—really doing identity-based work where you’re telling your own stories and the stories of your community—can actually connect with people. And the fact that our relationship was born out of me simply telling a story—that was the spark. From that moment on, we kept telling the stories of the people around us. I remember we did a series called Identities, where people expressed themselves. So, I knew from that early work that there was a real connection being made—and that it was something that could keep going.
That’s beautiful. And me being a romantic right now, I want to know who approached who first and what was the first thing you noticed about the other person.
Rog: I love this. You know, now that we’ve started talking about it, I remember that we actually met at a gallery event—like a sort of brand-gallery situation, an art exhibit.
Bee: So, it’s so funny that this work is coming full circle. I was having this “Year of Yes” thing where I was like, I’m just going to say yes to things. I’m going to go to things, talk to people, and just be open, right? I had seen Raj’s work, and then I saw him there, and I thought, I’m going to tell him it was amazing. That’s it. So, I just walked up to him and said, “Hey, I saw your work. It was really wonderful and just so impactful for me.” And that was it. I was like, “All right.” And then, I don’t know — the one thing I noticed was he was totally quiet. I was like, okay, so he doesn’t talk much — all good.
He’s in shock. He’s like–
Rog: Exactly! That’s my whole thing, I was like she’s beautiful and she’s talking to me? and I don’t know what to do! So that was that whole thing — it was so funny.
Bee: And then his friend just jumped in; she really saved the whole moment. She was like, “Oh, what’s your name? Let’s get your contact. You guys should link.” She’s the one who actually brought us all together. Shout out to Mihal — Mihal, yeah — who we worked with again many years later. It was really cool.
They say that every introvert needs an extrovert. I feel like you literally just showed that you proved that to people that your work is a love letter to black culture, not in a trendy way, but in a sacred intentional way. So, what responsibility do you feel when telling back stories through your lens?
Bee: I definitely feel a deep sense of responsibility because I understand what the absence of visibility and the absence of love and support does. Growing up in a space where being creative, being a photographer, dressing a certain way, was not only not nurtured and supported, but it was frowned upon. I know what that absence feels like, and creating that space—having that space for joy and acceptance within the work, and telling visual stories that truly highlight communities that are often unseen—is really important.
I feel a deep sense of responsibility because I understand that absence, and I know how vital it is to showcase authentic Black stories that reflect the diversity of the Black experience. All of that is incredibly important. Coming from that absence, I carry this responsibility deeply. Also, when it comes to time, legacy, and family history, these are personally very important to me. I believe we have a responsibility to document people’s families and stories in a way that will live on beyond them.
Early on in our studio practice, we encountered many real-world experiences that reinforced this commitment. We photographed someone from West Africa who had been living in the States and got caught up in an immigration issue that prevented him from returning home. He hadn’t seen his mother in years—about seven or ten years. When she came to visit him, he said, “You have to take a picture of me with my mom.” And we were like, “We’d love to come. We’re going to wear our traditional clothes, everything.” We responded, “Do it. Let’s come.”
The images turned out beautiful—absolutely gorgeous. We had such a great experience with her. Unfortunately, tragically, she passed away soon after. For us, being willing and open to take the portrait was one thing, but it became a profound lesson in realizing the significant impact these images hold. We’re truly grateful we were able to create them. So a really big part of our responsibility is recognizing that when people are in front of our lens, we don’t know where that photo will go—for their history, their future, and their family’s future. So, yes, it’s truly important to us.
How do you protect the soul of a project even when working with huge brands or industry giants?
Rog: It’s a tough question. I think for us, we don’t really change when we’re photographing. Maybe it helped that we literally started doing this in our home — one big open space that served as both our living area and studio. We slept there, cooked here — everything was in one room. Because this work grew out of our everyday life and relationship, we remain the same regardless of who is in our studio or where it is.
It’s like having people in our living room or family — we treat everyone the same. That consistency holds no matter who we’re working with. I also think it’s great when brands and companies support or initiate these efforts, but for me, you have to embody that before the brand does. Doing so beforehand really helps, like Sekou is one of the guys involved in the collaboration we’re doing with adidas. He talks about growing up around Madbury Club, which is something my friends and I were photographing years ago.
Because we’ve been doing this long before HBE or adidas, it’s hard for anything new tosuddenly shift what’s already existed. For me, not waiting for a brand to start something is crucial — it makes it easier when the brand comes in later because the momentum is already there. So, the brands aren’t really kickstarting anything; they’re joining something that’s already happening.
Bee: I’ll also say we’re fortunate to be at a point in our careers where we feel confident advocating for our style. The people we work with, especially the adidas and HBE teams, have been incredibly supportive of us doing things in our own way.
Rog: So, it’s been really sympatico — we’re on the same page, and they’re very open to how we want to approach things. It’s been great to photograph in our style, communicate in our style, and even guide the conversations around how things should look and be presented. All of that has been really helpful, allowing us to be open and authentic throughout the process.
I want to talk about Paper Monday. The name alone feels very poetic. I feel like it really does represent you. What does it stand for? And how do you define your studio’s voice beyond the visuals? You said that it was a lot about family. How you treat people like family?
Rog: The name is a tough one because it means so much, right? I can give you a follow-up after this, but essentially it has three layers to it. I’ll give you one layer for us. We started working in this loft and we did everything in there. It was this big open space for us and we had people coming over, collaborating, and Monday was this time for us where – the beginning of the week. Everyone [else] is like, “I hate the work week”, but we were going to get to collaborate. It was just the beginning for us. Monday was that day of starting the collaboration and that energy. It really originally started from something else which I said I’ll outline for you, but I don’t want to take the time.” I love it how you’re just changing the perspective of like Mondays that got really satinized for us. You just made it really like a cool moment you were looking forward to.
There’s so many layers to it because we originally started doing this kind of like Monday paper, where we sent out digital PDFs around the culture and cultural stories to people via text message, and so we’re like, “Oh, this is kind of like a Monday paper.” Then we kind of flipped like it’s not really about the paper itself. It’s about the day on Monday, like we’re telling our stories and we’re putting it out, so Paper Monday became the Monday paper became Paper Monday. It became about the stories and the day where we’re collaborating.
Is there a guideline principle, like a phrase, or question, or a feeling, that always leads you both creatively?
People always ask about the style of the people in the photos that we photograph, or people ask about the aesthetic, and there’s a quote, I don’t know who it’s from, but it’s a quote and they talk about if you want to have great photos ,then just point your camera at great things, right? And it’s that type of thing where for us, it’s not about the styling or putting on, it’s about really developing a community and tale; photographing interesting things and interesting people. So for us, the guiding principle is, “Be real”. Tell the truth. Don’t pretend. It’s not the land of makebelieve. Of course, we can add to the aesthetic but these are real people. This is the culture. This is my hat. This is what it is. So I think that it is important to us to be real and really lead with identity.
And regarding being married – that’s a whole on journey. And then being creative partners? That’s like a whole another layer. So, how do you navigate the tension in the studio versus the tension like in the living room?
Bee: It was a long period, I think, of getting used to it for me. Rog is very collaborative. He’s just so comfortable for me. I like having my creative comforts—which I don’t—and I have my social comforts, which I kind of keep separate. It was tough in the beginning, also because we have very different working styles. It was just really difficult for me. I mean, it was probably difficult for [Rog] too, because I was the casual one who was like, “Oh, I don’t know, but we’re in the living room, so why would we talk about work?”
Rog—like, to this day—just lives and loves his work in such a beautiful way. I’ve grown to really appreciate that about him. And also, our work has taken on a really special place after having our daughter, because she is a whole life. She requires a lot of love and attention, which we love giving her, and we love being with her. So somehow, it’s gotten easier for me to balance our creative life with our home life, because it’s just so rich. It really is happening all at the same time.
Rog: I think we’re lucky just in the way that we were raised. I have two sisters who I love and I love being a protector. I love giving. I love serving. I love helping. Her dad is amazing—and I think we’re lucky that our personalities match in that way, where we sync and there’s that synergy. Also, I think we fight really well. We’ll argue, and it’ll get there, and then it’s just – done. We move on. I think we’re lucky personality-wise because we’ll get into it, and then it’ll be like, ‘Oh—what do you want to eat?’ And then let’s keep it moving. I think whatever is at the base, we honor that and we say, “Hey, this is the most important thing.”
Bee: I think the ‘is it worth it’ part sometimes comes afterwards. Because sometimes we have the fight, and then it’s like—huh, I can at least speak for myself—sometimes I’llsay, ‘Okay, well, what is Rog?’ or I’ll ask myself, ‘What do I think he’s advocating for, even if it’s strongly?’ And maybe that’s more fundamental or important, like—is it going to make the work better, or is it going to make our lives better? Is it going to um be a positive move forward for our family? And so it kind of diffuses the need to argue because I realize we’re probably just arguing details, whereas we agree we want our family to thrive. We want the work to be presented excellently. We want people to understand this person’s story. So we can let go or find a new way to express our individual desires or opinions as it relates to that goal.
Wow, that’s an amazing strategy. Regarding your work, you’ve worked with some of the most influential figures in our time like Beyonce, Solange, LeBron, uh Leon Bridges. What do these moments mean to you beyond the surface?
Bee: Working with all of those people were I wasn’t there for the LeBron one, but anytime we’ve worked with high-profile people, it’s been um a really positive experience. Like Leon Bridges, right? Even from the beginning when I was meeting Rog and the people he knew, I was so much in awe of the artists and what they were making—what they were capable of doing. So even people who now, like, maybe they’re not Beyoncé, but at the time it was like, this person has a single out in the world that you can purchase.
They were a singer, and that’s all they do. To me, I was like, ‘This person is famous. This is amazing.’ I just thought it was so cool because I didn’t come from a culture where that was presented as an option. There weren’t people who were singers or painters or poets, you know? So for me, every single person I’ve met since we started this has been pretty much famous to me. I’m just like, ‘This person is amazing. I cannot believe that they do this and they do it so well.’ So then when it becomes like more globally known people, it’s the same feeling to me, you know, like Leon Bridges is such an amazing person. Working with him and getting to know him as a person, not as just the image of what he does was great. So for me, it’s always been like wow, these are just people who do amazing things and I’m really in awe of the things that they do.’ I think it’s important when we’re invited into those spaces that I’m there to do my job.
I’m a storyteller. I don’t gas myself up to feel like, “Yeah, I’m here with LeBron” or “I’m here with Beyoncé.” I’m there to do my job and tell a story. I remember Solange asked us to come take some photos of her before the Met Gala– she is so busy, as you can imagine. She’s about to go to this huge event. She has to get dressed, she had to fix what she was going to wear—there’s so much happening in that space. I think it was actually the next day, and she was quickly packing up clothes, getting ready to go. Someone had gotten her a takeout chicken salad thing that she was picking at while she was doing a million things.
She was super busy and she just casually starts talking and goes, “Do you ever just get nervous when you’re about to release something you’ve made to the world? You ever just worry about how it’s going to be received?” And I remember thinking—it was so strange she was asking me that? You’re a famous recording artist, why would you ask me this? But I said, “Yeah, of course. I’d be nervous. Absolutely.” And she was like, ‘Yeah, I sort of feel like that right now. I’m releasing a big project and I’m a little bit nervous about how it’s going to come across.” And I was like, “I’m sure it’s going to be amazing. Being nervous is normal. I’m sure it’s going to be great.” And then two weeks later, A Seat At The Table comes out. And I’m like, is this the project she’s talking about? I was so flabbergasted by the fact that she had such a humble human moment of like, “I made something and I’m going to show it to a lot of people and like you never really know how people are going to take it.” But I guess in my mind I thought, “Well, she’s done this before. She’s been here before, so she’s not going to be nervous about this.”
But yeah, it was such a human experience moment. So when I think about it—it could be Beyoncé, it could be LeBron—the humanity is the real thing. I mean, these are superstars. These are huge, huge personalities. There’s going to be a narrative that’s always there, that everybody sees, that everybody knows. There are going to be stories that people know, But it’s these kind of intimate, small moments, and these human stories, that are important to us. The humanity of every person that we have the honor of photographing, and talking to, and just really showcasing truth.
Rog: And like I said, leading with identity is important – not just a narrative or a position. Right now, you’re partnering with adidas, a brand that’s rooted in global culture and self-expression. How do you translate the Paper Monday vision into fashion? What does it look like when intention meets street wear?
Bee: The people on the adidas team have been so supportive of us and our vision; Especially given that the work is about honor and it’s about excellence. It’’s about real people’s stories and how they impact their communities. It’s really easy for us to just bring our whole style to the project, and we’ve definitely had a lot of support in that, but when I think more specifically about the fashion and the streetwear, I think [adidas] has been really intentional about making this project about the honorees and about what they’re doing and the impact they’re having in their communities—in Atlanta and in Alabama. So that’s been a really easy guiding principle for us – to remember the honorees. Remember the work they’re doing and keep that at the forefront of every choice that we make.
Rog: Yeah, for sure. When you talk about Gee’s Bend, the quilters, and when you talk about Jaycina and Sekou – all we’re doing is coming onto a train that’s already rolling. Sekou’s been translating fashion to soccer culture for like a while now. The ladies of the quilters of Gee’s Bend, they’ve been doing what they’re doing and have been recognized for that for some time now. So, we’re just getting on the train and saying, “Okay, well, what’s the story and how do we bring our aesthetic to the table?’ We’re not crafting anything. We’re really just authentically looking and finding a way to bring our aesthetic and showcase what’s already there.
As photographers, as couples, as creators – two questions. What message would you give to the past versions of yourselves, who was taking a chance on another person to start a life project? What message would you give them? And what message would you give future artists?
Bee: Go for it. Give your whole self to it.
Rog: I think it’s important to say that I wouldn’t change anything—because if I had, I wouldn’t be where I am today. That said, looking at the big picture is crucial. We often get caught up in the day-to-day: running around, eating pizza, taking photos on the street—and that’s important, too. You have to commit to that. But it’s equally important to live with the mindset that you’ll be here 10 years from now. Whatever that means or requires, you need to plan and act with the long term in mind. These things—whether it’s hip-hop, photography, or something else—have a tendency to grow. And you want to make sure you’re present when that growth happens.
TEAM CREDITS:
Editor-in-Chief: Prince Chenoa
Feature Editor: Taylor Winter Wilson (@taylorwinter)
Writer: Frida Garcia D’Adda (@fridadda_)
