N’Dambi Siva is an emerging photographer that received the first camera as a gift from a close personal friend at age twenty-two during a road trip from California to Texas.  With that chance that was available, this just happened to be every day.  To this day, Siva still owns and actively uses that camera, and draws great inspiration from James Van Der Zee, Roy Decarava and Carla Williams. Ukweli (Swahili for “Fact”) is the first semi-nude/nude series of Siva’s young career, which focuses on the raw imperfections of people’s perfect selves. Shot with digital and film cameras (And even...

A word to the wise:  Never, ever tell 34 year-old model/actress Jay Faabulousone that she cannot do certain genres in modeling or acting because of her size.  She will make you eat your words by showing you that she can and will take it to the next level.  Jay makes it known that she is unapologetically proud of the skin she is in and her full-figure will not deter her from her goals. The 5’10” curvaceous Philly stunner is a chameleon when it comes to her modeling.   Artistic nudes, beauty, erotic, fashion, runway, commercial…this lady does it all and with a smile on her lovely mocha...

Like the phoenix, I rose up from the ashes of my self-destruction.  I was reborn anew to manifest this life better than before.  Heartbreak, betrayal, fear, and depression nearly ended my life.  There were countless times where I thought, “If I could just disappear, I truly would.  I don’t want to go through this pain.” I looked to people and things to make me happy, excited to be alive, and to feel beautiful, only for it to be a temporary fix.  I craved to have some kind of approval from others to have them tell me that I’m a good person, a loving, caring individual, if I’m talented...

It was like a ritual. Clutching ropes tied to wooden planks, earthBrotha SkyHy and earthSista Angelica, danced around each other in an awkward strutting peacock sort of way. Momentary respect gives way to intense curiosity and attraction. Walls tumble down as ginger embraces become bold, welcome intrusions. Awkward moments become warm comfortable embraces filled with smiles and laughter. He kisses her shoulders. He kisses her breasts. And on these swings in the public where anyone may pass, SkyHy and Angelica drop all walls, boldly and proudly baring their brown bodies to one another. In the heat...

Midnight Erotica celebrated the art of Afrocentric sensuality or Afrosensuality. In the days and weeks to come, much discussion will be had regarding what Afrosensuality means because it definition plays a huge part in culture of the Pangea’s Garden. And in a way Midnight Erotica was a reflection of that influence. As the evening progressed that hot night in August, the patrons who had surveyed the visual gallery of black eros paintings, sculptures, drawings and photography, settled down to listen to the passionate, provocative verse of the various spoken word artists. earthSista AlleyCat...

Pangea’s Meet & Greets were two gatherings last year that were geared towards a few of us getting to know each other better with the hopes and intentions of creating works together. After all, Pangea’s Garden is a network of individuals with an appreciation for afrosensual culture and beauty. And all of us, with our varying perspectives came together a couple of times to celebrate that. But how do you do that? How do you celebrate that? I am trying not to be self-indulgent here, but I am an artist, a photographer and a graphic designer. So I have various ways of expressing my ideas,...

SirReal Photography presents Signature: blax·ploi·ta·tion A genre of American film of the 1970s featuring African-American actors in lead roles and often having antiestablishment plots, frequently criticized for stereotypical characterization and glorification of violence. Gordon Parks described his blaxploitation projects as “a picture people go to see because they want to see the black guy winning.”  Being a late 80’s baby, I always found it quite difficult to understand the Black community’s attraction to blaxploitation films let alone the term.  But growing as a Black artist has...

2011 was a tumultuous year in the Garden. We have gone thru a lot of changes, growing chaotically, organically along the way. Some folks have moved on while others have joined us followers and cultivators and we were fortunate to share some exciting times and provocative adventures along the way. One of these exciting experiences was Yemi Toure’s Midnight Erotica. It was an evening in late summer and a few of the images from Pangea’s UdoU Series were included in an Afrocentric erotica art show featuring paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography and spoken word. Nobella body painted...

Jirard: I’ve been shooting a nude series for a little over 5 years & I want to to publish a collection of coffeetable books derived from the work. My “Velvet Painting Series” is designed to be beautifully arousing… celebrating the sexual potency and freedom of wonderfully diverse women. “The Velvet Painting” started as one book… but has evolved into a series of books. After submitting my books to some art book publishers, I was told that they were unable to find a place for these types of projects in their book schedule. And the closing of many bookstores...

He is always looking for new forms of expression; always happy to follow wherever his camera takes him… Adebonojo’s works are the results of a journey. His vision is intense, creative and distinctive producing images that are inspired and provocative. His subjects are his muses and they seek to be captured by him. Henry says, “I have always been interested in portrait photography. Portraits stir me deeply. I have been a filmmaker and photographer for a fairly long time now. Within the last few years however my camera and I have been seduce by photography of nude forms in various...