Black woman photographer seen — and hired

Myesha Gardner: I think the feminine energy is not what I want to portray and more what the subject chooses to express. I was just there to capture and capture this energy — and provide the space for it to flow through my image.

My explorations of topics such as the vanity and function of the female body, in addition to my own reflections, seek to examine the deeply complex roles and expectations that culture and society play. Our focus is on women — with a personal focus on Black women, in particular. These roles and expectations do not always align, nor do they reciprocate, and through my research I have often observed that women are completely stripped down to a single value. specified by others. Women’s age, both traditional and popular, is directly related to expectations of a single role; A woman is primarily expected to conceive, conceive, give birth, and sustain life, regardless of other circumstances or her personal will.

I often question where and how are we, as women, allowed to feel safe and nurtured, to show vulnerability and strength? My goal is to document the many dualities that can coexist and show that there is no one way to be a woman, and rather that we are multifaceted and wonderful people. However, femininity is and should be, however a woman chooses to exist.

What is your favorite part about photographing black women and men?

Black people embody so much divine beauty — it’s our minds, bodies, and souls that make us unique and I simply wanted to capture that with pictures. . I am expressing the beauty in the truth and everyday life of Blacks as a form of protest, and this is inherent in our emotional experiences.

From intimate portraits of my family to capturing the energetic movement of dancers in the studio to capturing everyday life through street photography, I am most fascinated by subjects least expected to reach or engage — it’s their stories that often resonate most deeply with me.

I think it’s important to show people that their stories are valuable by sparking those conversations, documenting their world, and giving them a chance to be seen and maybe even seen. understand more than before.

How do you see your work progressing over the years?

I think my whole journey has been about evolution — from the moment I started focusing on photography seriously, I’ve seen my work evolve in more ways than one. I started photography at an art high school in Cleveland under my instructor, Toni Starinsky, who was one of my first educational mentors and who really pushed me to experiment. by studying a variety of photographic methods, such as pinhole cameras, analog vs. digital media, darkroom techniques, etc. I spent a great deal of my early life taking portraits of family members, groups of friends, and their surroundings, these subjects are still major themes in my work. My personal work so far. I find a lot of joy looking back at archival work, exploring ongoing themes right alongside efforts that I would have considered failures at the time, which culminated in very real evidence. about my growth as an artist and photographer.