Lagos, Carnival, and the Female Gaze: Spotlight on T.Woods
Southern California–based photographer Teanna Woods Okojie captures the spirit of Black subculture . Ever since she first picked up a camera, she’s been creating portraits of Black life, from beach scenes to pensive women to families and trips abroad to Africa.
She calls herself an “ethical storyteller” who partners along side her subjects to inform a story together with consent and in eudemon . Her body of labor brings out the honesty and reality of every scene she captures. during a series with Teach for Nigeria, her photos check out the education system in southern Nigeria, showing children attending class and smiling big. Meanwhile, In Our Own Words highlights the voices of Black women through oral and written storytelling and portraits.
Recently, she released a long-term photography series entitled Sacred Faith, which looks inside the Celestial Church of Christ within the mountains of Ogun State, Nigeria. She also participates in Black Women Photographers, a platform founded by Polly Irungu that brings together a fantastic mixture of Black women photographers of all ages.
“Queens, New York” Notebook and “Black Boy Joy” Tapestry by T.Woods
“Queens, New York” Notebook and “Black Boy Joy” Tapestry by T.Woods
You can find a curated collection of her work available purchasable at San Diego Art Institute’s Regional Artists Market, also as in her Threadless Artist Shop. a number of her most stunning pieces include the beachy “Black Boy Joy” and therefore the vibrant “Queens, New York.” Offering insight into her world as a photographer, Woods spoke to Threadless about the magic of Lagos, her spring collection, and therefore the photographers she looks up to the foremost .
What does one love most about working in documentary photography?
Teanna Woods Okojie: The connections I make with the incredible individuals and families I meet. I gain such a lot from each story they share with me, each challenging journey they’ve overcome, and the way they’re making it through whatever circumstance lies before them. I started my photography journey within the children and teenagers fashion/lifestyle industry. In 2014, i started my transition into the documentary/humanitarian field. I recently realized I’d always been telling stories through my work. therefore the transition into documentary/humanitarian photography has only opened my heart more deeply toward visual storytelling. It honestly seems like the very best honor to tend the chance to inform remarkable individuals’ personal stories.
What is ethical storytelling to you, a minimum of visually?
Visual ethical storytelling to me begins with collaboration with my subject. We are telling their story together; their consent is that the highest priority. I wrote a piece of writing , “The Need for Ethical Representation in Documentary Photography,” which discusses ethical codes of communication . within the article I share my perspectives on how this plays call at our everyday lives. I wrote:
“We live during a time when we’re all storytellers. While you’ll not be a knowledgeable visual artist, by simply having a camera/video on your telephone you too have the facility to inform a story. Every image we post throughout our communities makes an impact , receives a reaction, and creates a narrative.”
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Storytelling shapes narratives of people and communities. When those narratives are inaccurate and subjects are depicted negatively, it greatly impacts perceptions of the individuals and therefore the communities they represent. Accurate coverage is critically important in combating misrepresented narratives.
