This is one of my favorite images I’ve ever photographed, for many reasons. When I lived in NYC my identity was as a fashion photographer. One thing I did intentionally is identify Black Models & other behind the scenes Talent such as Hairstylists, Make Up Artists, Fashion Stylists, & help develop their portfolios because I was working on hi-end productions where quite often there was a no Blacks allowed policy that was never spoken but definitely enforced.

Whenever I’d try to book folks I was told that they weren’t good. But I always found great talent & helped them showcase their best selves so that they could not be denied work.

Literally I was responsible for training & “putting on” hundreds of Black folks working in the industry many of whom are currently very successful & many who may not know the struggles & fights I had to get them seen or booked or given a chance.

The Hairstylist from this shoot made, styled & colored this wig by hand. This skirt is Designed & made by hand by one of my favorite Designers who is a so called Immigrant. It is Gorgeous!!! Layered, Frayed edges, floor length, the top is fitted all the way to the bottom of the thighs with a long split down the middle. It’s made from different pairs of jeans sewn together. (upcycling) is very chic & green.

The lighting: very simple: I placed two large soft boxes behind the white background which gave me a silhouette & placed two white foam board books on either side & bounced two lights into them to give me the sharp but soft highlights, I metered for the darkest part of the shadow under her ear to open that up so that we could see the Beauty of her dark skin kissed ever so lightly by the diffused light surrounding her.

The Make Up Artist did an Amazing job outlining & defining her eyes & using that dark blue shadow to balance out the stark hair color.

I asked the Model to cover her breasts so the focus would be on the skirt & pretend she was a mermaid at the bottom of the ocean & that she had to shoot straight to the surface. We worked on “correcting” the pose until we achieved the balance between the curvature in her neck & the arch in her back.