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The 2023 #BWPSummit - May 19-21, 2023

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In Conversation with Martine Séverin

Martine Séverin is a lifestyle + advertising photographer. She is based in Chicago and Los Angeles, with Chicago being her primary hub. Her vibrant style, imbued by a love of color and diversity, has been shaped by her Haitian roots and her passion for celebrating inclusivity through the use of non-western narratives. It is this passion that drives Martine to seek out and create work that features people of color and women in non-stereotypical ways. Where possible, she also makes social causes a part of her work by collaborating with companies that are advancing the lives of others. She is the host of the podcast, This is How We Create, a show that digs deeper into the creative life of contemporary artists of color to foster community and honor their process.

A Conversation with Kahran and Regis of CreativeSoul Photography

We’re artists obsessed with unique, visual storytelling. In fact, we connected because of both our passion for preserving precious moments. We fell head over heels in love with one another, and in the process, created something beautiful: CreativeSoul Photography.  With more than 13 years of working with hundreds of children, families and brands, we specialize in lifestyle photography and authentic, visual storytelling. Our holistic approach to capturing one-of-a-kind moments has allowed our work to be featured on Teen Vogue, CNN, Glamour magazine, Vogue Italia, Black Enterprise, BET.com, on The Real daytime talk show, BBC News, the OWN network and many more.

Navigating a Creative Career with a Disability and Chronic Pain

Four members of Black Women Photographers share their journey navigating a creative career with a disability and chronic pain.

Participating artists: Tonal, Zaria, and Brittany. If the captions are not working for you, let us know by email.

A Conversation with Dee Dwyer

Dee Dwyer is an award winning diversified Photographer, Curator and Director from Southeast, Washington, D.C who produces awe-inspiring images. As a young girl Dee’s mother encouraged her to “Dream Big” she hasn’t stopped since. Due to her knee deep devotion in collecting and sharing stories with the world, Dee has been anointed by her community as "The Visual Voice for the People”. Driven by her own integrity her goal is to show all aspects of human life with the primary focus being humanity. In 2020 she pioneered the series “Voices of Wards 7 and 8” in partnership with publications DCist, WAMU an NPR station. Her intentions were to create a space within the media industry for people in under-reported areas to have the mic to express themselves from a first person perspective. Dwyer’s unadulterated and compelling visuals unveil the souls of people. Her images expose people’s adversities, truth, beauty, and culture.

As a teenager, she developed her fascination for photography. Dee never left the house without her disposable camera to photograph daily life of family and friends. Receiving her BFA in Filmmaking and Digital Production helped to develop her keen eye and technical skills. While taking a required Black & White photography class, she had to shoot and develop her own film. This is how the love for photography blossomed. Having a love for travel and community she continues to use her camera to, "Show the World What it's Made of."

A Conversation with Joy Malone

Joy Malone is an award winning photographer and photography professor.  She obtained her BA from St. John’s University and her MFA in Fine Art Photography from Academy of Art University.  After finishing graduate school Joy became a Professor at St. John's University where she still teaches. Her capture everything mentality has lead to her working across multiple photography genres.  Currently she is a contracted photographer for both Reuters and Getty.  As a photojournalist her work has been published in the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, Vibe, Buzzfeed, and appeared on 60 Minutes. She also shot one of Reuters top photos of the year in 2020.  She also runs Joy Malone Photography where she shoots a little bit of everything from events, to family portraits, to school photography, fashion, etc.  Her fine art photography is collected domestically and has sold into private European collections. Her thesis work was written into a Master’s level photography course where students study her photography series “The American Dream”.  She has photographed notable people from Jay-Z to Princess Anne all while being a homeschooling mother to 2 beautiful children.

A Conversation with Jessy J Photo

Jessy J didn't just discover photography - it runs in her veins. Growing up as the daughter of two artists, she was always drawn to capturing life's moments through a camera or sketchpad. Her early experiments with color and shading ignited a passion for preserving her favorite memories. After a brief stint in modeling, Jessy found herself behind the lens once again, this time with a fresh perspective and a new mission: to create images that tell bold, captivating stories. Drawing on her modeling experience, she learned from a diverse array of photographers and creative directors, developing a unique style that sets her apart. Today, Jessy is a visual artist with a focus on beauty, cosmetics, hair, skin, editorial, and fashion photography. Whether she's shooting for editorial magazines or commercial campaigns, she brings an unparalleled level of panache and imagination to each project. Through skillful use of lighting, composition, and color, she brings her clients' brand visions to life in ways that are both personalized and unforgettable. With bases in both Dallas and Los Angeles, Jessy is ready to take on the world - one stunning image at a time.

A Conversation with Ivy Awino

In an industry where males still dominate, emerges an unapologetically zealous, multi-culturally influenced student of her craft, DJ Poizon Ivy. The talented empress behind the turntables balances deejaying on-air, on main concert stages, at select nightclubs and lifestyle venues, for celebrity and non-profit events, and for corporate clients, with now hosting, interviewing and modeling. As an international DJ, Poizon Ivy has a love for diverse music, incorporating all genres into her sets and radio mixes.

Born Ivy Awino in Nairobi, Kenya and raised in Dallas, Texas, Ivy mastered both the piano and cello before discovering her love for yet another instrument; turntables. In 2010, Ivy got her first break hosting her self-titled weekly online radio show, “Poizon Ivy After Dark” on WMUR, Marquette University’s student ran radio station. In a few short years, Ivy rose in ranks, setting off the city’s largest concert stages at Milwaukee’s Marcus Amphitheater and the recognized “World’s Largest Music Festival,” Summerfest, opening for some of the most notorious names in music: Nas, Wiz Khalifa, Lupe Fiasco, B.o.B, J. Cole and Juicy J to name a few. She is now one of the most in-demand Midwest DJ talents, performing and hosting throughout the Midwest region.

A Conversation with Zandile Ndhlovu

At the 2023 BWP Summit, Zandile Ndhlovu shares her journey as a Freediving Instructor and the founder of The Black Mermaid Foundation. Zandile’s work centers around creating the first encounter that exposes the youth to the ocean. As an ocean conservationist, diversity and inclusion specialist, and avid speaker and storyteller, she uses these skills to advocate for diversely represented and inclusive oceans while working to reshape incomplete narratives. Zandile is a change agent, passionate about human potential being the critical currency that creates the worlds we want to live in while focusing on the collective ability to bring change.

A Conversation with Naoe

At the 2023 BWP Summit, Naoe shares her journey as a Black woman navigating the filmmaking industry.

A Conversation with Liam Woods

Liam Woods is a Trans + Non Binary Image Maker based out of LA. Their work is characterized by the vulnerable, candidly intimate storytelling of Queer people, People of Color and other marginalized communities. 

In their 5 year experience as a photographer, Liam has partnered with brands and companies such as Apple, Adidas, Facebook, Spotify, Johnson&Johnson and Warby Parker. They have also shot for publications such as People, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Vogue Paris, The New York Times, LA Times, Cosmopolitan, and Playgirl Magazine. With their brand experience, Liam has formed over 50 creative job opportunities (and counting) for BIPOC and Queer People both in front of and behind the camera. The main mission in their work is to continue to build upon community and provide resources/access for the betterment of BIPOC and Queer creatives as a whole.  

The Inaugural #BWPSummit - March 11-13, 2022

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A Conversation with Raven B. Varona

Raven B. Varona also known as "RavieB" is a photographer born and raised in The Bronx, NY. She began her photography career shooting concerts and events in downtown New York. Capturing these important cultural moments sparked her photography career. Her work is intimate and colorful. She prioritizes the subject from a very feminine perspective. When looking at her photos, she wants you to feel a familiarity between her and her subjects. When she’s not on set, you can catch her watching reruns of The Office eating spaghetti.

A Conversation with Kimberly Douglas (@kihmberlie)

A Conversation with Idara Ekpoh

Idara ekpoh is a Nigerian-American photographer, creative director, and educator who creates captivating visual experiences through her dreamlike and cinematic portraits. her art is centered around storytelling, healing, and identity.

as a first generation Nigerian-American woman, she has always been interested in the topic of identity, which drives her to not only use photography as a medium to tell her own story, but to bring visibility to the stories of those within her community. 

A Conversation with DeLovie Kwagala

DeLovie Kwagala is a Ugandan non-binary queer self-taught photographer, artist and social activist currently living and studying at the Market Photo Workshop School in Johannesburg, South Africa. A CAP Prize 2021 shortlist, DeLovie is deeply passionate about telling African stories with the dignity they deserve. Their work focuses on identity, belonging, social injustices and gender sexuality. It is a celebration of queer freedom and bringing attention to marginalized groups without victimizing or fetishizing them. DeLovie aspires for their images to evoke deeper feelings of relatability, a sense of learning and unlearning what we thought we knew beyond the obvious visual. They want to provoke intense emotions of questioning, defy the stereotypical narrative that’s embedded in our minds especially about beauty, gender identity to patriarchy that have infested our humanism.

A Conversation with Kreshonna Keane

Kreshonna Keane is a photographer, director, and visual storyteller based in New York. The Bronx native uses her work to address social stigmas, highlight underrepresented groups, and celebrate life and culture with heavy influences in fashion and beauty. Kreshonna’s work focuses on representing self love, confidence, inclusivity and body positivity.

A Conversation with Amanda J. Cain

Amanda J. Cain is a professional photographer originally from the Metro Detroit area, currently working in San Jose, CA. She has a love of travel, music and sports. Amanda's varied career background, having worked for newspapers, universities, and many freelance photography assignments within sports and music prepare her for any projects you may have in mind.

A graduate of Central Michigan University with a Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design. Amanda found her passion for photography through her classes at CMU where she also discovered sculpture and design. While working at a local paper in the New Bedford Massachusetts area she deepened her love for photography. Photography has since become her passion and main focus. Her style is eclectic, energetic, and personal. It encompasses music, sports, fitness, photojournalism, portraiture, and higher ed.

Her experiences in newspapers, covering historic events, has developed her passion for recording history as it happens. With that said Amanda is living black history, as the first black female team photographer in the NHL.

A Conversation with Audrey Woulard

Audrey Woulard is an internationally known portrait photographer who is known for her portraits of young people. Her love for the art of photography began with the birth of her children. She left the corporate world very early in life, and embarked on a career in portrait photography.

Her long career has allowed her to be commissioned to shoot or teach her craft in places such as Australia, London, Amsterdam and Barcelona. Audrey has also photographed high profile commercial assignments such as Pottery Barn Kids and IAMS pet food. Her work has been featured in publications such as O Magazine, Instyle, People Magazine, US Weekly and Intouch magazine.

Her love of the people she photographs drives her passion, and her greatest achievement is capturing her client's memories year after year. She is a speaker for industry conferences such as WPPI and Imaging USA. She also holds her own private workshops called Light Exposed. Audrey is also dedicated to teaching photographers the art of photography on her education platform: AW Teaches.

Lola Akinmade Åkerström on Using Your Extraordinary Voice

Award-winning writer and photographer Lola (Akinmade) Åkerström has photographed and dispatched from 70+ countries for various publications. She is the 2018 Travel Photographer of the Year Bill Muster Award recipient. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, BBC, CNN, The Guardian, Travel + Leisure, New York Times, Slate, Travel Channel, Adventure.com Magazine, The Sunday Times, AFAR, Lonely Planet, Fodor’s, several in-flight magazines, amongst others. Entrepreneur Lola Akinmade Åkerström in conversation with BWP Founder Polly Irungu.