The following is a story I was fortunate to read by Surya Devi Shofar on blog The Sex-Sensual Griot. As I read it, I was intrigued and thought that I should do a write up of my own but the more I read, the more I realized that Surya’s story says it all. So here it is. Naked Expressions of Leading Black Women! The naked unveiling of her body in her video, “Window Seat”, was Erica’s way of showing the world that she has climbed higher dimensions of her spiritual journey while making a fierce political statement that inter weaved the past and brought us a flash into the...

Emerald trinkets gracefully draped Violet’s shoulders, ears and wrist while Nobella added the final touches of the earthSista’s adornment; bright white dashes above her eyes. These captures were part of a series of images Nobella and I had been working on. We’ve been creating pictures of her jewelry and paintings for Nobella’s shows and website. And on the day of this shoot, when we had a couple of jewelry sets to capture, Violet was our muse. Violet is inspiration, pure and simple. Open, creative and sensible, the young, natural beauty is full of energy, vigor and optimism....

Sunlight streaks almost poetically through window blinds. It dances across green felt, laminated wood and smooth colorful numbered balls. Spring is finally back and as ButtahFly prepares to take the first shot across the pool table, Hershey hovers politely in the background, snacking from a bag of trail mix. This happens in the wake of a little trash talk about whose got game. Boasts are big and the wager is made. One earthSista racks up the balls while the other grabs a cue, chalks it up and studies the table intensely. But it’s all in fun as an intimate, tongue-in-cheek game of strip pool begins...

Radically energetic and focused. Colorful and (despite herself) obscenely cool. RenegadeBarbie displayed all of those aspects to her character during our shoot together. In one of the converted factory loft communities in the Atlanta area, a couple of friends of mine opened up their home, allowing us to create this raw and edgy set of captures. The sun peered through windows and blinds and we reflected it back on the Renegade…Barbie because she was The Star. She danced with the shadows and playfully teased the camera. The radical diva displayed her patented in-your-face attitude that has...

Intimate moments, alone, captured while the faint taste of incense lingers in the air. Warm soft light is ubiquitous. Long locs fall across bare shoulders while bejeweled hands dab into shay buttah so that they can spread it over the brown skin that drinks it in. Blaq Buttaphly and I were in the cool basement loft. And while we laughed and talked we created these captures that were, for me, one of the root inspirations of Pangea’s Garden. Minutes, that happen, privately, so often that their rare beauty is, easily lost in the repetition. Every now and then, I like to take a moment to capture...

Immortal Wisdom from Bob Marley “I do not try to be perfect and I know I’m far from it but before you go pointing fingers make sure your hands are clean” Walking and talking, you find out that Radiantz is a woman whose had her fair share of passion and pain. A talented and caring soul, she is not hard to know but not easy either. In the midst of the shoot, Radiantz opens up and as the day progresses the prickly young woman who can be short-tempered, becomes warm, exuberant and sharing. She talks about the changes in her life. Family, boyfriends and her history tell a story of a life...

By Makeda Voletta “Fecundity-defined as fruitful in offspring or vegetation- is generally interchangeable with fertility. It is used to illustrate those concepts that apply to the natural world beyond human societies. This is of course, an artificial distinction because indigenous peoples concerns with fertility were inextricably linked with the fecundity of the earth, plants ans animals. Many cultures perceived a connection between human sexuality and plant plant and animal fertility, and through sympathetic magic and rituals related to sex, they invoked supernatural power in guaranteeing...

They wanted an early Sunday morning workout. Just the two of them so that they would not be bothered. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to practice their dance and not be distracted by onlookers and I thought it was the perfect chance to get the two of them together for the shoot we’d talked about doing. They had never danced or shot together before and we were all a little unsure about what we would create. But, you know, that is the exploration…that is the adventure. They stepped into the dance studio. Stretched and loosened up. Connected. And proceeded to create. Both of these beautiful...

Overcast clouds were the forecast, and it was unexpected. As luck would have it, the weather for the week prior to shoot day had been nothing but sunshine. We had this great idea for a shoot but it required a strong burst of natural sunlight, similar to the day before, and the days before that and so on… Anyway, we decided to make the best of it. We shot outside, taking advantage of the even sunlighting you can get when the sun hides behind the clouds. We wanted to use the lush untamed backyard to this Carribean-themed jukejoint when it happened. God smiled on us that day. The clouds parted,allowing...

People fished the lake where we did this shoot, frequently. I could see why. Its very picturesque. Lush, green, clear and open, the lake was circled on one side with natural walking path. This is where Radiantz and I created most of our captures. She was alternately serious and playful through out the shoot, depending on what we talked about at the time. Initially we’d intended to start shooting around 9 am but did not get started until 11:30 and I was worried about the heat and onlookers but it, all in all it was quite pleasant. Radiantz had posed for me a few times before and I was very...