Philip (BK) Clapham

Editor, Journalist, and Writer

United States

BK is a former senior editor for 5280, Denver's Mile High magazine, where they wrote and top edited for its front-of-the-book section, Compass. Prior to joining 5280, BK worked for the New York Times, writing for its now defunct visual storytelling vertical, Lens. BK is also a fiction writer, currently working on a book-length manuscript, as well as short stories that center black queer lives and experiences. BK lives in Denver with a husband and cat and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Literature at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Portfolio
5280 Magazine
01/01/2022
42 Ways To Explore Colorado In 2022

While we've all been locked away in our homes, Colorado got a lot cooler, prettier, and yummier. Nearly two years cocooned in our homes have made us wishful for the adventure and entertainment we once took for granted.

5280
09/27/2021
Emanuel Martínez Brought Muralism to Denver. Now, Gentrification Threatens His Art

The artist's iconic murals celebrating Chicano history and culture made the Mile High City a public art mecca. Public art has become a visual battleground of contested space in the epic story of Denver's growth; one in which artist Emanuel Martínez has been a part since painting his first mural on the walls of La Alma Lincoln Park in 1970.

5280
05/01/2021
How Denver's Art Scene Responded to Black Lives Matter - 5280

A year after the murder of George Floyd, we checked in on Denver's cultural gatekeepers who promised to address institutional racism in the arts-and the artists who held them accountable. * The killing of George Floyd in May 2020 prompted many local arts organizations to express solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, but whether those promises translated to lasting change, only time would tell.

5280
05/23/2021
The Denver Art Museum Welcomes Twin Masters of Indigenous Art

Cannupa Hanska Luger and Marie Watt work together-and with you-to create a profound exhibition on community and contemporary art. * As prominent indigenous artists known to weave community engagement into their creations, Cannupa Hanska Luger and Marie Watt have both carved out separate, compelling spaces in the contemporary art world.

5280
04/01/2021
Time's Kid of The Year Gitanjali Rao Wants to Inspire Your Student

Gitanjali Rao's new book teaches kids how to observe, brainstorm, research, build, and communicate their way from problem to solution. * Blessed with a restless mind constantly looking for problems that need solving, Gitanjali Rao has become a renowned scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur-all before graduating high school.

Talk Poverty
01/17/2018
What We Can Learn From California's New HIV Law

California HIV advocates scored a win this past October, when lawmakers voted to reform several criminal statutes that specifically targeted people living with HIV. The new law, S.B. 239, reduces the penalty for not disclosing HIV-positive status prior to sexual activity (including solicitation) from a felony charge punishable by up to eight years of imprisonment to a misdemeanor carrying a potential punishment of up to six months in county jail.

Lens Blog
07/11/2016
A Complex Self-Portrait of Africa

Holding a retrospective exhibit after only 15 years as a professional photographer may seem unexpected. But such was the timing for Akintunde Akinleye, the only Nigerian photojournalist to have won a World Press Photo prize, in 2007.

Lens Blog
07/11/2016
On the Jersey Shore, Las Vegas Meets Coney Island

If Marty McFly could do a "Back to the Future" reboot on the Jersey Shore, he might have found Wildwood strangely familiar. To see it for ourselves, there's no need for a DeLorean or plutonium. Your sedan will do the trick.

Lens Blog
07/11/2016
Football, Cheerleading and Hometown Glory

In Texas, where football is an unofficial religion, a photography project documenting the sideline drama and athleticism of football and cheerleading would not be unwelcome. But the photographer Brian Finke was a reluctant convert to this pastime, even though he was raised in suburban Houston.

Lens Blog
07/11/2016
Kurdish Syrians, Beyond the Border Crossing

Since the Arab Spring of 2011, the political upheaval in Egypt, Libya and, most recently, Syria, has turned the region upside down, challenging regimes and transforming the landscape. In fact, Syria's continuing conflict among the government of President Bashar Al-Assad, opposition forces and the Islamic State militant groups has sparked the worst global refugee crises in over 40 years.