Experience

Having been raised to make it a priority to know my history and pass it on, photography is my way of helping others document and share their stories. Photography is a way to chronicle our lives in a specific space and time. For historically marginalized groups, it is imperative that we are committed to having a snapshot of what makes us…us. This is the energy I’ve always applied to my work, creative or documentary.

Within the first year of me doing photography, I held a self-curated gallery entitled We Matter: Looking Inside Ourselves. The premise of the show was to highlight teenagers of color in the Greater Hartford, Connecticut area. Almost every other weekend for three months, I was transforming my basement into a home studio and taking photos. From that piece, I found a passion for creative direction and set design.

From 2017-2018, I began doing more documentary style work as I shot events for the Black Student Union. I loved capturing the Black student experience at the University of Maryland. It fed into my desire to channel my inner Gordon Parks haha. I joined our Black newspaper, The Black Explosion, to cover more of campus life. College definitely made it difficult to do more creative work: school work, extracurriculars, lack of space, partyingg (woot woot). However, I was able to fit in another good project I called MIAMI VICE.

I returned home for the winter break and redesigned my basement again. The session featured neon lights, an iridescent curtain, and just an overall moody vibe. I decided to participate in another gallery; this one being hosted by RAW Artists. Through this experience, I got to learn more about the business side of the artistic life.

Since then, I’ve continued working to learn and experiment with photography. Summer of 2019, I was honored to work with the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism on a project about how climate change is impacting the city of Baltimore. I had time to listen, and let the residents’ words and stories paint the picture I needed. Some described decades of living in the neighborhood and witnessing its decline to drugs and violence. Local gardeners tended to cabbage and tomato plants as they dreamed about the next generation of children learning to be environmentally and socially conscious. I captured their realities as well as their hopes, in words and pictures.

Read on to learn more about my experience.