So! It all started when I decided to tune into a Zoom with Women in Ctrl. An organisation created by Nadia Khan, who is one of the many magnificent women working within the music business. This webinar was hosted by founder Nadia and the guest speaker was Roisino, who is an extremely talented creative director. Both great, strong influential females within the creative industry. I was gifted with words of wisdom and advice about working as a creative within the creative field. Here, I was set the challenge of self-shooting myself with the concept #GirlsGirlsGirls in mind…
#GirlsGirlsGirls X Clitbait
For the next few days, my mind was flying at 100 miles per hour, ideas springing to me involving bin liners and blindfolds…(crazy I know). Anyway, I decided to scrap those ideas which was probably for the best, as I fell in love with the concept I finally decided to use. I had the idea of having each tiny detail of the whole look being influenced by some of my gals. I did this by asking some of my girlfriends their favourite colours and type of specific accessory/ type of design within clothing. That explains why there are so many colours and feels to the look! A beautiful mix of fun!
I decided to base the look around the inspirations of women in my life, because society often makes women feel as though they must compete. The drama driven media and societal expectations all play a role in this. From looks, to the way women dress and the way different women choose to live their lives. To prevent subconsciously falling into the trap of feeling you must compete against other women, it’s vital to take the active step in embracing all that the women around you do. Instead of competing we must celebrate! This look is the message and reminder of this.
In the middle of creating this look, there was a rise in the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement. Being a black female from the UK, it felt wrong for me to do this shoot without acknowledging some of the many black women mistreated and discriminated against by the system in the UK. So, I decided to message an amazing photo illustrator I know, called Eleanor (IG: @Eleanorxartist) to help bring to light Shukri Abdi, Sarah Reed and Belly Mujinga’s stories. In the cases of these women/girls in the image, the racism and mistreatment from various institutions undeniably played a factor in their death.
For everyone who sees this I recommend you learn about these women’s stories. Sarah, Shukri and Belly are only a few of the many black women whose life was cut short due to the racism that exists in the UK.
To end, I want to say thank you to all the amazing women who were a part of this.
Shania x
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