Fashion & Editorial Photographer
Meet Tahirah Edmond
Tahirah Edmond is a Jamaican third-year criminology student at X University who is artistically gifted and aspiring to a profession in fashion photography. She is passionate about bringing her visual creations to life and specializes in Fashion Photography. She is dedicated to ensuring representation in the majority of her works. Her first artistic recollection comes from seventh grade, when she was asked to build a Greek Goddess paper mache mask.
Not only did she realize she was good at it ...
... but so did the people around her. Despite her present specialization in fashion photography, she possesses a wide range of skills. Her desire to create began when she realized that makeup, visual arts, and sewing were all great methods to express yourself creatively at a young age.
Tahirah began her photographic journey last year (April 2020) during the first quarantine, when she purchased her first camera later that year in September.
While preparing personal photoshoots in her home ...
... she recognized it was something she wanted to pursue more seriously, not only as a model but also as a director of other people's photoshoots. Her objective is to work as a Creative Director for well-known companies, in music videos as well as in the fashion industry. Her most recent project, which was influenced by black culture and fashion, was a success attributable to Flaunt It Movement's assistance in guiding her through her artistic path.
Her objective is to work as a Creative Director for well-known companies, in music videos as well as in the fashion industry.
"Exceptional Beauty"
Portrait/Fashion/Editorial Photography Series - Artist Statement
Exceptional Beauty explores notions primarily around black beauty, which has been depicted as "ugly" and "ghetto" for many years, whereas white counterparts' work has been considered as more acceptable and appealing. It's not always easy to meet society's standard of beauty as a black woman, but we've worked to respect our own beauty within our community. The Y2K theme for this project was inspired by the significant influence of 1990s to 2000 fashion as well as the urge to convey an essential message through my work. Understanding the relationship between myself as the artist and the audience allows room for representation to those who need it the most.
The 1990s saw many fantastic advancements and inventions, I used the fisheye effect as a technique to edit some of my images, which was very popular at the time. My work is arranged in such a way that it is regarded as contributing to works of Black culture and identity that were not seen as pleasant in the eyes of many if they were not done or performed by white people. This project was an attempt to reclaim Black women's "ghetto" portions of themselves while also revealing the true origins of the Y2K look and reclaiming power.
Ghetto and ratchet stereotypes have been significantly adjusted as fashionable, but they are still considered trashy when performed by black women. As a result, who is accountable for defining aesthetic standards, and why is it viewed negatively when performed by women of colour? It comes as no surprise that many black women have felt that their beauty isn't acknowledged or enough to suit any standard of beauty, which influenced the experiences that went into developing this project. Photographing the beauty while also acknowledging our culture's influence on many individuals made this project special and significant in terms of conveying the message it contained. My intentions as an artist are to produce a deeper meaning that will connect with my audience in the form of a cohesive body of work, not just for aesthetic purposes.
