Photographer-Sam Oht
Sam and I connected on Instagram a few months ago. I don't remember how we came across each other's accounts but I knew I was immediately drawn to his work. I loved the way he used his lense to capture the beauty and boldness of black women to portray them naturally. Eventually we planned to create and thus came these pictures. I didn't wear any makeup or extensions for this because I wanted to present myself in the most natural way possible. When I saw these photos, my initial thought was that maybe I should have worn a little makeup to conceal some of my flaws. Then I looked closer and I remembered that I'm beautiful just the way I am. I also remebered the point of this photoshoot: I told Sam I wanted to celebrate natural beauty and that's just what we did.
Self love is the best love. You are the only person you're guaranteed to be with for the rest of your life so you might as well love yourself. When you accept the things you cannot change, you'll learn to love your flaws because they make you unique. I was listening to one of Kanye's song "Everything I Am" and the line that resonated the most with me was when he said "everything I'm not made me everything I am." Those words jumped at me because they exude self acceptance. Remember that you were made in the image of God and that makes you a beautiful creature, flawed and all. I'm not here to give you perfect, I'm here to give you real.
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