Q: You are an amazing photographer. How did you get your start in that profession?
A: Aww..thank you for that compliment! When I was in grade 6 we had a guest speaker come to our class to talk about his profession; he was a photographer. I was excited because although I had not owned a camera at this time I had seen the magic of Polaroid and other instant film cameras and wanted to know more about that entire process. He brought enough cameras so each of us would have our own; once he showed us what to do and how to handle the camera we all went outside to photograph whatever we wanted. After we shot our 12 exposure 35mm film we labeled it with our name, the photographer gathered all the rolls up and told us he would be back in a few days to show us what we had captured on film. Once I saw my images I immediately knew I wanted to be a photographer. If you would have asked me what I wanted to be before that experience I would not have been able to answer you but after that experience if you would have asked me that same question I would have smiled and said without hesitation "a photographer". Unfortunately, as I grew up I encountered some negative comments about my choice in wanting to be a photographer. I was told multiple times, "photography is a hobby not a career and how many black folks do you know who's a photographer?" hmmmm… family can influence you in ways you may not even be aware of.
I went on to become a Nurse but my camera was always near and every opportunity I had to use it I did. The love of photography never left my soul. Once I became an adult, meet and married my military husband, had a child of my own, traveled to multiple states and a foreign country, while befriending other photo and art enthusiasts I finally felt like I was encouraged to do what I truly loved. I felt like all those avenues provided a positive vibe for me to step out on faith to do what makes me happy. Needless to say, I'm one happy camper today because I'm doing what I love.
Q: What is your hair story? What kind of hair styles have you rocked, before embracing your natural hair?
A: My hair story??..wow, how much time do we have?..lol..I have many but I'll only share two.
Late last year around December I was standing in line at the grocery store when I could see a young black male staring at me. With a slight smile, I turned to look at him and when I did he says to me in his island accent, "why you do that to yourself?" (looking at my hair) I looked puzzled, kind of confused. He says to me while he chuckles, "I'm scared of women with hair like that." Now I'm starting to get what he's trying to say and I say to him with a smile on my face, "hmm really? Because I'm scared of men with island accents" That shut him up real quick and he went on his merry way. Now, I'm not really scared of men with island accents. I just wanted him to see how ridiculous that sounded.
