Migration Patterns
Brandon Ruffin | January 26 – April 4, 2026
About the Artist
Brandon Ruffin is an Oakland based, multidisciplinary artist, best known for his visual storytelling in the mediums of photography and film under the moniker Ruff Draft.
Brandon attributes his style of storytelling to the exploration of identity as well as how identity influences the movements and cultures of people within society. Brandon uses the physical properties of contrasting light, color, and subject matter to create unique juxtapositions that will yield evocative narratives surrounding the human experience.
Brandon’s goal is to allow his work to serve as a mirror in which people can observe themselves and dissect the idea of who we are and why, as well as who we can be. These questions are ones that drive Brandon and have been the fuel in his artistic explorations as he explores his own identity and potential.
In 2023 Brandon became an official Leica USA Ambassador as well as having a body of experimental portraiture showcased in the This Must Be The Place exhibition curated and hosted at the Leica Gallery San Francisco.
In 2023 Brandon wrote and directed Faded Requiem which was awarded “Best Narrative Drama” by the San Francisco International Film Awards. Brandon also served as 1st AD for the short film Strength which won “Best Narrative Drama” at the San Francisco Black Film Festival.
Brandon currently works on a research team in the field of Computational Photography at Google, pushing the capabilities of AI, machine learning, and traditional photography. Brandon has had an active role in developing the Pixel 6, Pixel 7, and Pixel 8, which was awarded the title of “Best Smart Phone” at the prestigious Global Mobile Awards.
Brandon has given lectures at multiple academic institutions as well as given instructional workshops for tech leaders such as Google, Apple, and VSCO.
Brandon is a contributor for publications such as Rolling Stone, New York Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle.
He has risen as a prominent community builder in the photography world as founding member of OAKSPC (Oakland Street Photography Club) and Cameras and Coffee Club which has collaborated with Leica, Photoville, and Color Of Coffee.
Website: https://www.ruffdraftvisuals.com
Instagram: @ruffdraft
Migration Patterns
Rooted in personal history and collective memory, Migration Patterns offers a powerful reflection on the enduring presence of Southern Black culture in Northern California; particularly in the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and Ruffin’s hometown, Richmond.
The project opens with Siobhan, a poem by Enjoli Flynn-Ruffin, and is accompanied by an essay from journalist and cultural critic Pendarvis Harshaw. Together, these texts frame the book not simply as a collection of photographs, but as a lyrical meditation on legacy, migration, and the evolving meaning of home.
As a descendant of Louisianans who moved west during the Great Migration, Ruffin explores how culture is carried across distance and time. How it adapts, resists erasure, and remains encoded in language, movement, and ritual. Rather than illustrating history in a didactic sense, Migration Patterns moves with a quiet intimacy, allowing traces of Southern identity to surface through atmosphere, memory, and presence.
Woven into the work is a contemplative tension between life and death, between arrival and departure. Ruffin stands in the stillness of both birth and mourning, asking what it means not only to migrate across land, but also across spiritual thresholds. In this sense, Migration Patterns becomes not just a document of physical relocation, but a reflection on the migrations we each undergo: into being, into legacy, and eventually, into memory.
The work is especially attuned to the emotional terrain of transition. It considers what is lost and what endures when communities are displaced or transformed, and how those shifts impact one’s sense of belonging. At its heart, Migration Patterns is a reflection on lineage: on what it means to be the continuation of a story, and on the responsibility of documenting that story with care.
With this monograph, Ruffin adds a vital voice to the canon of contemporary Black photography. One that bridges past and present, personal and communal, silence and testimony.
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