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Kids: Natural Hair

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Greetings from Kenya

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So for those of you wondering where in the world we are now, we are currently wrapping up our week long tour of Kenya for our upcoming AfroArt book. I must admit, this book is turning out to be pretty epic and we cannot WAIT to see it all together. We kicked things off in Europe and are now taking it to the motherland with a visit to Kenya, South Africa and Ghana. We were very lucky during our Kenya stay to have been hosted by an amazing travel agency, Bountiful Safaris. If you’re one of those millennial do-it-yourself travelers like me you’re probably used to the AirBNB/Uber/Taxi life when traveling. I typically find that travel agencies are a bit too cumbersome, pricey and not flexible enough for our needs. So I was thrilled to find that we were able to get amazing travel deals and the flexibility we needed through Bountiful Safaris. Their staff is amazing and were so accommodating to our needs. Here’s a quick recap of our Kenya tour…

After a (long) 20 hour flight, we arrived late in the evening and made a quick late night pizza run.  Our visit was in Kenya’s winter so the weather was typically in the low 70s each day and low 60s in the evening. Coming from the south, this weather was great for us, but our Kenyan friends considered this blizzard weather! ha!  Our friends were also not amused by our pizza choice, but it was actually great to us, lol!  What more can you expect from a midnight pizza run? 🙂

We arrived at our hotel, the Azure Towers and were thrilled by our accommodations.  The hotel had a nice restaurant, a free full buffet breakfast, lounge area, pool and more.  We found that it had everything we needed and more (including little details like a universal outlet which made life a little easier.

Before even visiting Kenya, I knew that my very first stop needed to be one of the Maasai markets.  Saying I was in heaven would be an understatement! There were so many amazing jewelry pieces, clothing and crafts that I had to restrain myself to not take everything there.

The next day we met with our amazing team here in Kenya to get ready for our big production for our AfroArt book.  We can’t give away too many details but all I can say is that the shoot was indeed epic.

Who else gets to hang out with cows for their day job?  🙂

After the pressure of our main shoot was over, we decided to do a little safari exploration and shoot to see the other side of Kenya.  Our little models were so happy to see the animals and for the safari tour. Do you guys remember Maya from our AfroArt series?  The last time we photographed her, she was visiting LA but this time we got to photograph her in her own home town along with her BFF Hazel.

Bountiful Safaris arranged for a driver to pick us up and take us around to Nairobi National Park and the Giraffe Center in Nairobi.  He was very knowledgeable and patient enough to allow us to shoot along the way.

I will admit, I’m usually not a safari type of girl, but after doing one I can’t go back to seeing animals “behind bars” at the zoo.  Seeing them in their natural environment is SO much more exciting and amazing.

Afterwards, the girls literally twirled around Kenya in their beautiful custom made dresses by Alexandria Olivia.  These two were showstoppers everywhere we went.

Our very first trip to Kenya was everything we had hoped and more.  We are already trying to figure out our return plans so that we can visit again soon.  For my friends in the US – yes, Kenya=Wakanda.  😉

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AfroArt: NYC

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This past weekend we had a fabulous time in NYC.  We were there for what was mostly a personal visit with my niece but took the opportunity to get in a few shoots while we were there.  Several clients signed up for our popular AfroArt sessions and were able to experience the fun first hand.  This time we fused two different themes (pop art and colorful tribal) into one fun day of creative goodness.  See some of our favorites below.  These CreativeSoul kids are seriously stying and profiling!  Love them!

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Diamonds

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They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, so what better than a Diamond themed editorial? Nothing!  Khynija and her mom traveled all the way from Florida for her big moment in the spotlight.  They wanted something unique for this teen’s portfolio that would stand out from the crowd.  We decided on a diamond theme because of it’s many meanings – we love the fact that they take time to grow and develop until they become a beautiful diamond loved by many.  We felt that this was the perfect theme for Khynija as she develops into womanhood.  We are in LOVE w/the images captured during her session.  Check them out below.

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Afro Art: London

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It’s been almost 2 years since we’ve been back to London and we were SO excited to return again. As we did in 2016, London was the first stop on our international AfroArt tour. We were able to capture so many fantastic images for the amazing little models there.  Check out a few of our favorite images below.

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AfroArt Series

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Wow, when we first started this little project called the “AfroArt” series we never thought it would take off the way that it has. We started this project to showcase the beauty and versatility of afro hair. We traveled to various states in the US to photograph this series featuring unique natural hairstyles – each shoot with a different theme.

We feel that it is so important for kids of color to be able to see positive images that look like them in the media. Unfortunately the lack of diversity often plays into the stereotypes that they are not “good enough” and often forces kids to have low self-esteem. We try to combat these stereotypes in our photography by showing diverse imagery of kids who love the skin they’re in, their own natural curls and their culture. Stories like this are important to show so that we can shatter the current standards of beauty.

We hope that viewers will see the beauty and versatility of afro hair and we hope that girls around the world will be inspired to love their unique differences and beauty within. Check out some highlights from our AfroArt series below.

*UPDATE* Many have asked about the coffee table book, prints and more from this series.  We are still  finalizing this series so the coffee table book is still a work in progress.  Feel free to join our mailing list here if you’d like to be updated when it is available.  Also, we’ve launched our 2018 AfroArt calendar and prints in our online shop.

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Afro Steampunk Editorial

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We’ve wanted to do a steampunk themed editorial shoot for a while now and finally got the opportunity for our AfroArt sessions in NYC.  So in love w/all of the fun accessories and clothing from this shoot (and of course the cool hair).  Check out some of our favs below.

Metallic Dress/Fur Jacket: Mia New York Clothing; Leather Jacket: H&M

Clothing: Mia New York Clothing; Boots: Justice

Black Shirt: Mia New York Clothing; Collar: HaloLuxe; Grey Sweater: Sparkles & Suspenders

Dresses: Sparkles & Suspenders; Collar: HaloLuxe

Dresses: Sparkles & Suspenders; Collar: HaloLuxe

Hair/Makeup: LaChanda Gatson
Photography: CreativeSoul Photography

 

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AfroArt: LA Edition

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For our AfroArt sessions in Los Angeles, we partnered with the extremely talented jewelry designer UniquelyWiredm for some custom jewelry pieces and beautiful crowns.  All of the kids really enjoyed feeling like young kings and queens for the day.  Check out some of our favorites below along with our behind the scenes video from our sessions.

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Reg and I even got in on some of the fun at the end.. 🙂

Hair/Makeup: LaChanda Gatson
Jewelry: Uniquelywiredm
Photography: CreativeSoul Photography

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Kheris Rogers – Queen of Pearls

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Soo this has been a whirlwind week.   This past weekend we shared our shoot with the beautiful Kheris Rogers for Little Revolution Magazine.  To our surprise, these photos went all around the world and completely shut the internet down.  For those of you who are not familiar with Kheris’ story, Kheris is a 10-year old girl who was bullied by her classmates for her dark skin.  After changing schools to escape the teasing, her older sister, Taylor Pollard, set out on a mission to raise her self esteem.

In March, Pollard posted pictures of Rogers on Twitter with the hashtag #FlexinInHerComplexion which currently has more than 100,000 likes and shares along with an endless thread of compliments. She has recently become an entrepreneur selling her “FlexinInMyComplexion” t-shirts worldwide.

When we originally saw Kheris’s story we thought that she was absolutely gorgeous and would make a great model.  Unfortunately in this industry there are not enough kids with darker complexion so whenever we get the opportunity to find new talent we will try to do what we can to showcase them in a positive way.  Our shoot with Kheris does just that – we aimed to showcase her beauty and strength with oversized pearls as the main feature.  The pearl is unique and often known as the “Queen of Gems”.  They symbolize unblemished perfection, modesty and purity – everything that Kheris represented to us.  Check out these stunning images of Kheris from our “Queen of Gems” editorial for Little Revo Mag.

Don’t forget to check out Kheris’ website and support this young entrepreneur by purchasing one of her Flexin’ in My Complexion tees which has been seen by the likes of Lupita N’yongo and Alicia Keys.