Women In Transit: Amber Knowles

                            words by Patrice Udeh                                                                       Photo Cred: Emily McCartney

Amber Knowles, is a Los Angeles native who spent ten years in New York before moving to Dallas five years ago to embark on a creative change. She works as a Producer for an advertising agency by day but in her free time she captures stunning wedding pictures for glowing couples. She discovered her passion for shooting weddings shortly after finishing photography school while working as a Photographer's Assistant. It was not long after she discovered her love for Wedding Photography before she branched out on her own.

Although, Amber is a Wedding Photographer by trade, she doesn’t consider herself an Artist or Creative but a creative business owner. Taking photographs accounts for the small amount of what she does for her creative business.  Knowles, does her own marketing, accounting, social media management, and bookkeeping to maintain her business.  

IT: What would you consider to be your early influences?

AK: I liked working with couples and weddings. I also do portraits. What attracted me and what I liked most, is when I am taking their photos I feel like I am their family’s Historian. In our [black] community, our older generations don't have the photographic documentation like other communities have of their past relatives. Photos are important at least for the sake of telling our stories. It can tell a story of who someone was and what someone did during that time in their lives. When I'm capturing people, I want to capture them as they are naturally instead of them posed. I capture them with natural laughs and smiles. Candid moments.

So you say you consider yourself to be a historian?

Yes, so if say someone's grandkids looked at their grandparents wedding pictures 30, 40, 50 or even 60 years later, they’ll look at the photos I took of the grandparents and remember, “that’s exactly how my grandmother looked when she laughed” or “this is how grandma’s eyes looked when she smiled.” As opposed to a posed, still photo.

                            Photo Cred: Emily McCartney

What's been your experience being a woman in the industry?

As a woman, I have to prove myself and work a little bit harder to show I am skilled and trustworthy. For instance, if I have a male assistant with me, I have to assert that I'm the lead photographer, not him. I have to show I'm capable of doing something like corralling a rowdy group of drunk groomsmen to get a great photo of them. Sometimes people doubt that women are capable of doing things. I've grown in my photography and experience over the last five years that I'm able to have clients trust me early on.

What inspires you?

What inspires me? Money. *laughs* For me, a lot of it is the challenge. Can I do this or can I figure this out.  Once I do it’s the accomplishment of I did it and it turned out okay. Other than being there to capture pictures, I do enjoy the wedding experience maybe because I'm a girl and kind of a romantic but they never get old to me. At weddings everyone dresses up and gets excited. Everyone is happy, for the most part. They’re ecstatic to have their photos taken. It's great to be in that type of environment. Overall, what inspires me is being able to document their stories and tell it through photographs.

                            Photo Cred: Emily McCartney

What gives you the most joy in photography?

The final outcome. I feel joy when I see the final results of my hard work and stress from the wedding day pay off and come together. I enjoy having happy, satisfied clients. It makes me happy to know that I was able to make them happy.

What’s next for you?

I like to think of myself as more of an entrepreneur than a photographer so I do want to start another business but I am not sure what is it specifically yet. I also have my own wedding coming up in a week. 

Check out Amber’s work right here

                            Photo Cred: Emily McCartney

Photo Cred: Tyson Pough

Women In Transit: Morgana Wilborn

                                     words by Marco Smith                                                                      Photo Cred: Emily McCartney

I met Morgana at a school board election event last year.  I knew her the way you first get to know people nowadays which is obviously through social media.  We had a mutual friend so I had the opportunity to introduce myself and let her know I was a fan of her work.  When you first meet her, her appearance is soft.  Her skin is fair, with piercing eyes, a bright smile, and little freckles that were individually placed in their own perfect location on her face.  It’s disarming to say the least.  But it was in our first conversation regarding our perspectives on the Dallas art scene that I really get a glimpse into her personality.  It was this hilarious down to earth, matter of fact, no holds barred dialogue laced in a southern accent that would make all of us born and bred Dallasites proud. You can tell that she has an old soul just in how she interacts with people.  Bottom line is......she is cool as hell.  Needless to say our rapport continued when it came time to sit down and chat for this feature.  The self-professed dreamer-creator is someone who is very proud of where she came from and how she grew up.  “I come from a family of strong women and it’s been an inspiration for me.  I’m very nonconformist and am about action and moves for women of color” she says.  The strength that she derives from is very indicative in her demeanor.  In the daytime she is the Director of Education for the Dallas Theater Center housed at the Wiley Theater. When she’s not doing that you may catch her behind the lens of a camera capturing life.  But that is just the beginning of Ms. Wilborn.

IT: What led you to do what it is you do now or how did you get started?

MW:  For me I got into it through my father.  He taught me how to use my first Minolta camera.  He took beautiful pictures and he made me fall in love with it.  I was even his little model from time to time as he would practice his craft.  I studied a bit in high school and took it with me through college.  I love capturing people in their truest, rawest form.  My dad always wanted a studio and when he passed it inspired me to start my own photography business.  I stepped away from it for a bit because I was focused on the education of my students but a friend encouraged me to start focusing on my art for myself.  So I began doing less paid work and more personal projects and PhotoNoire was birthed out of that.

What is your opinion of the art scene here in Dallas?

Ha! We’ve had this conversation before.  For me or at least my experience there are two sides to it.  It’s almost elitest.  There is a group that have their own crew and own following and you may not be part of that team.  Then there is a more organic group of people who just love to create and that’s the scene that I like to be apart of.  I just like a collective of people who are not shy about what they are creating and who are not selfish in sharing knowledge.  I mean we see the same people plastered everywhere and that’s great because a lot of them have been working hard for a very long time.  But they are not the only great people out there.  There are some really talented people out there with great work who get overlooked.  I try not to follow the same stigma of “booty shots” and “hipster headshots”.

                            Photo Cred: Emily McCartney

What were your early influences artistically?

My Dad is one definitely in terms of photography.  I love a lot of photography from the 20s like James Vanderzee.  Just how he photographed black people was royalty.  I want anything I do to look half as good as that.  And my number one is Cindy Sherman.  She is my favorite photographer of all time!  She does self-portraits and hers are really theatrical.  I love her…she’s pretty magical.

What has been your experience being a female artist positive or negative?

Well from positive perspective I feel like I can do a lot of work for myself and my friends and other women who maybe battling with their own body and self-image issues.  They’re comfortable with me and my work knowing that I’m going to represent them well. There are those moments when people may not take my work seriously as a woman.  I’m ok with my photography not being perfect.  A lot of people do a lot of extra stuff with their work and I just don’t think that is necessary.  You just have to create what’s yours and I refuse to conform.

                            Photo Cred: Emily McCartney

What inspires you?

What inspires me is the fear of being stagnant.  The fear of being complacent. The fear of not growing or not experiencing.  That is what drives me

What gives you the most joy in doing what you do?

Just the magic of it and the beautiful things that I see that are unseen.  When I get to do it and it’s like “man that was a beautiful moment” and all these different photos that I’ve taken in my life have been powerful moments that stay with me. That brings me joy.

                        Photo Cred: Emily McCartney

What is it in your opinion that you bring to the table artistically that is unique to you?

I think for me I’m just bringing my perspective and my story.  Because everybody has a different story when they create.  No artist is the same.  But my stories are my own and I’m blessed that people trust me to capture their stories too.  It may not be perfect but I pride myself on being perfectly imperfect.

Ok, so what’s next?

I have so many ideas. Now that I’m comfortable in my new position at work I can get back to creating.  I want to do a series of various women I want to work on and I have this obsession with I-45 I want to work on.

You can check out more of Morgana and her work here

                            Photo Cred: Emily McCartney

WOMEN IN TRANSIT COCKTAIL RECEPTION

Over the years, It’s been said by many male artists that out of all the creative inspirations to be had, The Woman is by far the ultimate source of their inspiration, whether it be music, photography, fashion or design. Perhaps because The Woman, by nature, has the capacity to create something extraordinary and give it birth. While the concept of men celebrating their female muses is common and flattering, it often overlooks the many contributions of their female counterparts. They represent a diverse collective that occupy this city’s artistic space. Over the next few weeks we will profile some of Dallas' most phenomenal female creatives and discover what inspires them. It will then all culminate in a celebration of them at our meet and greet cocktail reception for these dynamic ladies. These are our "Women In Transit." 

You are cordially invited to join us in a celebration as we honor these phenomenal women. The evening will consist of drinks, good people and sounds provided by one of our very own honorees Ursa Minor

MELANIN ON FILM

written by Marco Smith                

It has been a while since last time I spoke to our friend Joonbug.  About three years to be exact.  He was actually one of the first people I spoke with when I first started the blog.  Time flies and many things have changed since then.  His locs are a little longer, his beard a little scruffier and I'm in my third year with In Transit.  But the more things change the more they stay the same, and in my never ending quest to stay at the forefront of culture we find ourselves together again to discuss his latest endeavor "Melanin On Film" which is available though his Fresh Kaufee brand.  It's a "Kaufee" table book that serves as a tangible collection of moments with a primary focus on people of color.  The timelessness of film lends itself well to each photo and breathes life into other subjects.  

While this is supposed to be an interview it feels more like we're catching up.  As stated previously things have changed.  He's since relocated to Oakland and has been there for the past couple of years.  "It's been good man.  I was in San Francisco the first year which is a beautiful city but it had these hidden elements that I could only feel that didn't sit well with me.  There is something about the historical part of Oakland with the Panthers I kept seeing and the company I was in at the time that invited me out that just created this change and planted a seed.  Film just kept being this reoccurring theme." he says

-          Never fully embracing digital photography all of the images for Melanin On Film are captured entirely on film and shot with two cameras.  “Digital just never felt right.  I shot with a Pentax K1000 that was given to me by a friend a few years ago and a Canon QL17 Range Finder that I got at a garage sale here in Dallas for twenty bucks.” he says.  But it went past just the technique in which he chose to put these photos together.  Joonbug was on a journey in search of something deeper.   “I saw a pattern.  The art that I do has a common thread of film. Even when I wasn’t shooting with film I was inspired by film.  I’m inspired by a time that was yesterday.  The way that film captures.  Not everything was always super sharp.  It was more about the moment than it was about the technical shot.  And I feel with digital it can be more about the technical shot” he says

And for him intrinsic to that journey was the representation of people of color; hence the title of the book.  “I really like how our people look on film.  Which is ironic because color photography wasn’t initially designed for people of color.  But we tend to have more of an impression in photography.  When I see people of color in photography there is more of a story there.  A story of struggle that I can relate to and that resonates with me” he says

-      As soft spoken as he is, you can still feel the passion from which he speaks “I’m more of a vessel that creates things for people to enjoy.  There is very little representation of us.  Especially when it comes to the internet.  Typically when you search and that algorithm populates your search, there are few people of color.  So I began to ask myself how do you combat that narrative and I think you do it in small steps.  This is one of mine.”

   Go here to order your copy of Melanin On Film

VERY NICE 002

The mad man Simon Phoenix is at it again.  Straight from the lab he brings us the second offering in this series and it's a "Very Nice" mix indeed.  Take a listen to VERY NICE 002 and go be nice to somebody.

BLACKLOVE OPENING SHOW

From a personal perspective I can't think  of a subject more simple yet complex or important yet under-valued as Blacklove.  The concept of love unfortunately can be very subjective.  It has many meanings for everyone.  How it feels, how it is expressed, how it is given, and how it is received.  When tackling the issue of Black Love the expression "it's complicated" takes on a whole new meaning.  African Americans have their own set of challenges when it comes to how they relate to one another.  The social constructs of racism, colorism, homophobia, education, misogyny along with many other things all play their part in impacting these relationships and it can take a toll.  But what JerSean Golatt has done with his Black Love project is take all of that out of it and reduced it to the purest form of love that can be expressed in the form of a picture.  Last night I had the opportunity to attend the opening show at the Cultivar Coffee Shop.

photo | JerSean Golatt

The images are of hope, friendship, honesty, and most importantly love.  Each one representing a story that gives a snapshot of that couple's journey in love. What Golatt is able to achieve is capturing the most authentic representations of what true love is.  It's a small glimpse of the intangible bond that is shared by those who have chosen to take the journey of life together.  I'm a bit of a romantic so it may resonate with me a little more but the Black Love project is the perfect example of saying so much without saying anything at all. He's even taken it a step further by launching a website that will continue to tell these stories and couples are allowed to submit their own love story.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words and if that's true then there aren't enough words to capture the worth of these photos.

Photo | JerSean Golatt

THE REVOLUTION: COCKTAIL & LAUNCH PARTY ***Marco Smith***

Justin Productions Presents
“The Revolution” Cocktail X Launch Party
A Black History Month Celebration 
Honoring 28 African American DFW Influencers
At The Historic Texas Theater
Wednesday, February 25th 6:30-10pm

Artist Justin Adu starts of 2015 with the aim to bring attention to Black Excellence at its finest. This event will conclude Black History Month by Honoring 28 African American Influencers in The DFW Area and attendees will also get to view the trailer to Adu’s upcoming Art Exhibition & Performance Piece.

The Revolution will be held on Wednesday, February 25th from 6:30-10pm at the historic Texas Theater in Dallas, Texas. There is no fee to attend the event but donations will be graciously accepted. Any funding accepted will be used to assist in bringing more culturally relevant events to the DFW area.

This Launch will just be the beginning of a project that Adu hopes will allow the viewers to not only see how African Americans are viewed in media but also honor the influence of African Americans that positively affect the culture. “My goal is that African Americans will understand the importance of celebrating each other more.” - Adu

GET YOUR TICKET HERE

// FREE //

Who’s In Transit: M Knight

By Tamara Devers

M Knight wants to be clear.  He does not do booty photography. Period. “I like racy shit. I’m not a booty photographer. You can take a selfie for that. Do I love shooting women? Yes. Do I love shooting nude stuff? Yes. Do I want to push myself into the booty realm? No. It’s a fine line. I’ve crossed the line, I mean everybody has, but I think it’s a matter of where you want to set yourself. What is your marker for taste? Some people shoot booty really well. I like their booty shots, I just don’t want to be that guy.”

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about what guy M Knight is. Born and raised in a serious church-going family in Jackson, Mississippi, he had a conservative upbringing. But M Knight craved what every young person craves. Freedom and money. So, when he got out of high school, he made his way to Mississippi State University where he majored in Computer Science but graduated with a B.A. in Partying.

Photo Credit | M. KNIGHT

Despite not having a college degree, M Knight moved to Dallas where he started doing IT  work and after years of working for local companies, he went independent. These days M Knight splits his time between being a self-proclaimed IT nerd, a party pumping DJ and a no holds barred photographer. He’s always been fascinated by cool imagery and has trunks of magazines to prove it.  Surprisingly enough, M Knight’s interest in photography grew from the shadow of his DJ career and now is surpassing it.

Photo Credit | M. KNIGHT

“I like being an opening DJ. I can rock a party. When you’re opening DJ you always have that two hours to kill at the end. Either I can sit there and drink myself stupid or I can put something in my hands,” says Chris.  “I decided to put something in my hands. Plus, I was going to parties and all the pictures I saw were horrible. There were a couple of photographers that took great party pictures and we were all friends. I said ‘Hey, let me pick up a camera.’ So, I would pick up a camera and I would take pictures of my friends in low light without using flashes. So, I would kind of catch pictures of them. And I would just run around and I learned how to be real sneaky with a camera. People kept telling me I was good so I just eventually tried something else.”

That “something else” has since evolved into the racy, funky, sexy, crazy, stylish, fun, simple, erotic, complicated and sometimes nude images that populates M Knight’s world. He names German-Australian photographer, Helmut Newton as one of the main influences in his photography career. “His book sits at the front of my house. I don’t know how he did it. I wish I could have sat in on that man’s shoots. His stuff was classy as hell and yet racy as hell. And I don’t know how he thought up all these situations but he did. And the stuff that isn’t racy at all, it’s beautiful. It’s art.”

Photo Credit | M. KNIGHT

The craziest thing about M Knight is that despite being published in magazines and online publications practically every month, he considers his photography good, but not great. Humble to the extreme. If this is M Knight’s version of good, I can’t wait to see what great will be.