Issue 17 contributor Mariah Howard experiments with blacklights to create immensely powerful photographs.
What is your artistic process like?
I started the black people under black light series after discovering how beautiful the black light made people of color look. I want the black light series to highlight the beauty I see everyday in people who look like me.
My process begins with setting up the scene before my subject arrives. I light up a stick of palo santo to make the area smell nice, I play some jazz, set up my black lights, chair, and turn on my fog machine. Once the subject arrives I have them sit and get comfortable. I let them choose whatever music they like to listen to while I get my camera settings right. A lot of the times once the subject is comfortable I get really beautiful shots when they aren’t overly aware of themselves.
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