Heart and Soul Ewaniki

Ewaniki is one of the most empowering Woman I have met. I remember leaving our session feeling so impressed by her innate ability to give and help people become the best version of themselves.

2020 is a big year for Niki, after 17 years as Director of the African American Cultural and Resource Center at UC, where she helped thousands of students throughout her career, she has decided this will be the year she grows her own personal business even more. Ewaniki and her husband, Brandon run an amazing company called Soul Palette. They offer on sight and virtual art lessons, paint parties, group collage pieces, and custom murals. Their goal is to share art and empower others by helping them tap into their creative side.

She called this the year of her Awakening, I feel so fortunate to be able to give her beautiful photos to document this new chapter in her life. Congrats Ewaniki! I am so excited to watch you and your family soar!

Coming September 2020, ‘Heart and Soul’ is a photo installation project that was created to elevate the voices of some of Cincinnati’s amazing Black Womxn. Commisioned by Artworks and funded by FotoFocus I worked with 8 youth apprentices to make mini murals created with painted photos that will be wheat pasted on Black Owned businesses around Cincinnati.

Heart and Soul Nancy

What is more inspiring than a 96 year old Woman whose smile still lights up a room? Nancy has lives a wonderful life. She was a dietician and a substitute teacher. After that she traveled the world. Spending time with her reminded me to live life the the fullest. Her home was covered in art from her travels and photos of her family. I am especially grateful for the opportunity to meet this absolutely wonderful person and to include her in the Heart and Soul project.

Thank you to Crystal of The Voice of Your Black Cincinnati for connecting me to Nancy.

Coming September 2020, ‘Heart and Soul’ is a photo installation project that was created to elevate the voices of some of Cincinnati’s amazing Black Womxn. Commisioned by Artworks and funded by FotoFocus I worked with 8 youth apprentices to make mini murals created with painted photos that will be wheat pasted on Black Owned businesses around Cincinnati.

Heart and Soul Sesheta

Including a Doula in the Heart and Soul project was top on my list. I discovered Sesheta of Me&She Doula via a mutual friend. Her light shines bright. She showed up in the most beautiful yellow dress and opened up her powerful, loving heart without restraint.

A Doula is trained to provide guidance and support to Mothers and newborns during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Doulas remind us of our power and sometimes remind others of it too. Doulas educate and advocated for Women. They help you make informed decisions about your birth experience while providing emotional and physical support. Doulas are Angels. I had a wonderful Doula at the birth of my son, it was one of the best decisions I made. <3

Doulas and Midwives are especially important for Black Woman and Woman of Color as they are 3 times more likely to die while giving birth than White Women. Some contributing factors are access to appropriate and high-quality care, missed or delayed diagnoses, and lack of knowledge among patients and providers around warning signs. Most of these deaths could be prevented. With age old stereotypes and myths about Black people having a higher pain tolerance or thicker skin still believed by half of medical students, it is no wonder why we have so many senseless deaths. Research racism in medicine and you will come across some very heartbreaking evidence that there is much work to me done to rid the medical field of institutional racism.

From Me&She’s website…

”My fire for birth work was ignited a few years ago when I began studying herbalism. I began little by little uncovering and unearthing the trials and tribulations of being a woman, being a woman of color, and being a woman of color who’s pregnant. Such prevalence deeply troubled me and gave me a drive to be a force to combat such troubles. I’ve had the opportunity to grow up in a household that held strong to the values of femininity and understood the emphasis of sisterhood and community very early on. With this, I was granted the opportunity to take a step further and train to be a Doula under The Mothership in 2018. I have made it my goal, passion, and mission to be an ally, asset, and pillar for the women of my community through womb and birth work. I am deeply excited and blessed to have been called upon to do the work needed to bring health back into my community, even more so to be able to assist and join hands with women while walking through pregnancy.”

Including a Doula in the Heart and Soul project was top on my list. It was so wonderful spending time with Sesheta and her family. Her Power and Love shines so bright.

Coming September 2020, ‘Heart and Soul’ is a photo installation project that was created to elevate the voices of some of Cincinnati’s amazing Black Womxn. Commisioned by Artworks and funded by FotoFocus I worked with 8 youth apprentices to make mini murals created with painted photos that will be wheat pasted on Black Owned businesses around Cincinnati.

Heart and Soul Schera

When I told my partner about the ‘Heart and Soul ‘ project, he immediately connected me with his friend Schera. He raved about how cool she is and how he thought we would get along. He was not wrong. As soon as Schera walked up, I felt like I was hanging with a life long friend. We walked around Covington discussing life and love. We went deep, fast. I appreciate her opening up to me. Schera is an attorney and Rugby player, amongst many other things. Her power felt good to be around, I can’t wait to hang with her again someday.

Coming September 2020, ‘Heart and Soul’ is a photo installation project that was created to elevate the voices of some of Cincinnati’s amazing Black Womxn. Commisioned by Artworks and funded by FotoFocus I worked with 8 youth apprentices to make mini murals created with painted photos that will be wheat pasted on Black Owned businesses around Cincinnati.

Heart and Soul Nia

I met Nia many years ago when she hired me to photograph her wedding. She is an entrepreneur, a coach, a mother, and huge inspiration to me. She runs a natural skin care line called Flora Lee named after her, grandmother. I have been using her products for a month and I love them.

Body language is one of the subtle and sometimes not so subtle ways we communicate. I ask almost everyone I photograph to use gestures of some kind. I usually allow them to choose the gesture by offering suggestions, sometimes I ask them to simply close their eyes and reach for the sky. I am able to answer questions in my head by witnessing gestures. Are they giving or receiving. Are they asking for something or offering something? Are they simply letting go? The viewer then gets to experience the gestures for themselves and determine how it makes them feel.

When I photographed Nia a few months ago, things in the world were tense. Things today are still tense. If you have Black friends, please know things have always been tense, and they are exhausted. Mentally, physically, energetically exhausted. Don’t expect them to explain their feelings to you, just support their feelings. Don’t expect them to tell you what to do, research for yourself and please do something.

I asked Nia to use gestures to help release some of the tension she was feeling. I really enjoyed watching her open up to the sky and to get lost in movement. I highly suggest using gestures everyday to help express what you need to say without words. It is good to keep energy moving, especially when it is negative energy. Screaming works too, I have a few photos of that coming up in future posts.

Coming September 2020, ‘Heart and Soul’ is a photo installation project that was created to elevate the voices of some of Cincinnati’s amazing Black Womxn. Commisioned by Artworks and funded by FotoFocus I worked with 8 youth apprentices to make mini murals created with painted photos that will be wheat pasted on Black Owned businesses around Cincinnati.

Heart and Soul Aprina

I met Aprina through a dear friend. She is an amazing singer, activist, and mother. She uses her music to help evoke change the community. I have watched her push forward with all of her heart and it is so inspiring to see. Throughout this project a common theme that came up has been about ancestors, elders, lineage, and history.

We live along the Ohio River which was the physical line between the North and South during the civil war. Many people sadly lost their lives on the journey across the river to escape slavery, many people changed the trajectory of their lives by making it across. Aprina shared a re-occuring dream she has about the Underground Railroad. I asked her if the dream was bad. She lit up and looked across the river and told me no, in her dream, she always made it across. We both got chills, this is so powerful and symbolic.

I am very grateful to start I got to start the project off with such an inspiring story. Thank you for sharing with me Aprina. Thank you for all of the work you are doing to help the community heal.

Connect with Aprina via her Fracebook page Aprina’s Revolutionary Love or on Instagram @aprinasrevolutionary_love

Coming September 2020, ‘Heart and Soul’ is a photo installation project that was created to elevate the voices of some of Cincinnati’s amazing Black Womxn. Commisioned by Artworks and funder by FotoFocus I worked with 8 youth apprentices to create mini murals that will be wheat pasted on Black Owned businesses around Cincinnati.

Heart and Soul Intro

‘Heart and Soul’ is a photo installation project that was created to elevate the voices of some of Cincinnati’s amazing Black Womxn. These are Womxn who are working to help the community grow and heal. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter Movement I had to take a hard look at my own life and how I have subconsciously contributed to oppression and racism. With an open heart I started listening and learning as much as I could about how we can work to dismantle systematic racism. It hasn’t been easy. Racism is embedded in the consciousness of humanity. America was literally built on racism. This is a pill we all need to swallow even if it hurts going down. We need to be more than just allies to our brothers and sisters of color, we each need to be working diligently to tear down our old beliefs and create something new, a life that celebrates everyone equally, and lovingly.

Honour, Owner of BrowOTR

My art is about empowering Womxn and helping people heal. I had to ask myself some tough questions. One of the questions was, why aren’t Womxn of color represented in my work? I was so wrapped up in my own little world that I didn’t let anyone else in. By doing that, I was depriving myself and others of the beauty of a shared experience. As I was contemplating all of this, Artworks, an amazing art organization that creates powerful public art and employs artist of all ages, approached me to create a photo based project for them. This was the perfect opportunity for me to use art to help make the changes I hope to see in the world and in myself. Within a few days of being contacted I dreamed up ‘Heart and Soul’ and got to work right away.

Over the course of a month I photographed 18 Womxn. I connected with some of the Womxn through my own circle, and some by simply asking strangers I found via local business. A few of the Womxn connected me to their friends and this amazing chain of love became the link that tied the project together. Now, I have all of these beautiful new friends who I hope to stay connected to forever.

I heard stories from a Mother who went through years of depression because she feared her teenage son would be a victim of a police shooting just for being Black. I spoke with a Womxn who had to have a talk with their son at 6 years old about how he cannot go shirtless, or wear a hood, or put his hands in his pockets, she had to talk to him about what to do if a police officer ever questions him, about what to do if he ever gets pulled over when he is older. I listened to a Womxn tell me how she saw her mentally ill mother get beaten by police as a young child, and another young Womxn shared her experience with racism in what is thought to be a very liberal school. I listened to a very well educated Womxn tell me about growing up in a neighborhood that she was pushed out of and could no longer afford to move back to due to gentrification. I heard about the shockingly high mortality rate for Black infants/Mothers, because racism even exists in the medical field. One of the Womxn was worried about using her real name because she is afraid. These are just some of the stories I heard. Ask any Black Man or Womxn you know about how racism has effected them and I am positive they have a heartbreaking story to tell you.

These stories cannot be ignored anymore, they shouldn’t have ever been. We cannot create the change we need to make without looking at the truth. We have to understand that if some of us are hurting, we are all hurting. We are humans, we are family, we are brothers and sisters, we have to unite, we have to heal, together. It is beyond time we open our hearts to empathy.

When I share the photo stories over the next couple of weeks, I will be focusing on the healing and joy, but please keep in mind that the reason this healing has to happen is because of the pain created by racism. We are at a point where we all need to finally commit to do our part to end systematic racism. We have to have tough conversations about these truths, we have to speak up when we see it. We have to open up our worlds to unconditional love for everyone.

Crystal, owner of Grace and Grit and co-owner of Cream and Sugar Coffee

One of the benefits of creating a project with Artworks, is that I got to collaborate with 8 young artist on the final pieces. Teaching young artist is a passion of mine, so this was just perfect. I asked the artist to add their own art to the photos I took. It was a risky decision, I had no idea what the artist would create, but the results are better than I could have imagined. During the first week of the project I did a small presentation introducing the Womxn, with a brief talk about art as a healing tool. That theme stayed with us throughout the project. Some of the artist felt a personal connection via a common experience and that is how they chose the person they wanted to work on. This made everything even more personal and extra special for all of us.

A screenshot on my apprentices with Artist Annie Ruth

The Womxn I photographed have not seen the photos yet, I wanted to wait until the project wrapped up to start sharing some of the images. I only used one photo of each Womxn for the project, but I have so many more to share. Over the next couple of weeks I will be sharing all of the extra photos I created. I hope you will tune in to help me celebrate these AMAZING WOMXN and to learn about the awesome things they are doing to make the world a more loving place. Once the project is installed I will post photos and map of locations so they can be seen in person. This project has been an absolute blessing for me. The gratitude I feel in my heart is endless. There are so many layers of love being revealed to me with each step in the process of creation. Thank you so much to everyone involved. <3

Diving Back In

I have not touched my blog since September. Do people still read blogs? Do we have the patience for it anymore? Instagram is where we scroll past 1000s of images barely stopping to digest anything, is that the way we consume photos now?

I still like to read words, I still like to sit with images and feel the feelings they invoke. I like seeing series of images. Because of that, I have decided it is time to dig back in. What better time than during a world wide stay at home order, right?!

I have a lot of work to share and a many stories to tell. Blogging requires me to sit with my thoughts and relive the emotion I felt when creating the images, I really need to do that right now. I have been moving at an usually fast pace lately, barely digesting anything, just creating, creating, creating. I want my images to be seen larger than what Instagram can provide, and I hope to engage people with the stories behind the images.

Before the pandemic I was already going through some major shifts in the direction my art and work were headed. Last year was the first year, without any restraint I decided to dive into art making and to create work that was directly from my heart. I said no to work that didn’t fit with me, I stepped back from weddings limiting myself to just 5. I received two FOTO FOCUS art grants, one being with Artworks to create larger than life photos of Womxn to put in alleys, I was even going to photograph my Mom for the project. The other was a grant for my first solo show created from photos taken on my birthday last year when 21 women joined me at my friend’s property to swim naked in a creek together while I photographed them. It was one of the most magical days of our lives, we created an unbreakable bond and very powerful images together. I will share those images soon. (The hard part about sharing those is the fact that I have 4 foot wide prints hanging out in my studio, after seeing images printed large, it is hard to surrender them to the digital realm.)

Like so many other people around the world, the pandemic changed my plans. FOTO FOCUS was cancelled, my solo show was cancelled, the project with Artworks was scrapped. Luckily, Artworks wanted to fulfill their promise to create a photo based project together (and to employ me for a month, something I am very grateful for) They contacted me right as the Black Lives Matter Movement was really gathering momentum. I decided without any hesitation to create a project that amplified and celebrated some of the amazing Black Womxn in my community. I wanted to use the platform/opportunity to help the community heal and educate myself in any way that I could. I had to take a hard look at my own life and consider how I have contributed to the problem of oppression and racism. I wanted to learn as much as possible about the personal experiences of the people I photographed, my camera has always been my greatest tool to do just that. We have so much work to do to undo a system that benefits few and opresses so many.

The Womxn shared very candidly with me and I listened with a wide open heart. I learned about their pain, their joy, and how they are helping the community heal. I appreciate their trust in me to tell their story. Tune in tomorrow as I introduce the project and over the next couple of weeks leading up to the public install as I will be introducing each Womxn and sharing some of their amazing images not featured in the installation.

Thank you again and again to Artworks for the support/encouragement and to FOTOFOCUS for funding this project.

Emily's Maternity Photos 35mm and Polaroid

Towards the end of pregnancy you start to slip into the liminal space between here and there. The veil is slowly lifted as you prepare to dig deep both physically and emotionally to bring your child into the world. It is a sacred space, one that deserves to be celebrated. T

Emily encouraged me to create from my heart, and she wanted lots of film. I brought a little bit of everything. I am dying over these psychedelic colors.