The Melanin Project CT — Grace Portrait Design

I got together with a group of talented photographers and beautiful models of different skin tones one Sunday morning in September. We worked on something called “The Melanin Project,” which was founded by Kareem Clark & Travis Bivans. When Travis invited me to be a part of this, I felt so honored. But I had honestly underestimated how powerful this project would be.

These images were shot both on my digital camera (Canon 5d M4) and my film camera (Canon 1N). I love how raw the film photos are. No skin retouching. Just natural. And I also low how flawless the digital edits are. I’m giving you the best of both worlds!

Travis was the artistic director for the shoot, and I love the interview he had with the Hartford Courant. I will use some of his quotes from the article.

“The historical preference for white faces gave rise to a generation of photographers who don’t know how to deal with blackness, or who try to make black faces look more like white faces.”

— Travis Bivans

“Colorism is a problem in some parts of the black community. You’ve heard the phrase, ‘She’s pretty for a dark-skinned girl,” or if you’re in a black family and your whole family is brown, your mother or father will say, ‘Don’t stay outside too long, you’ll get too black.’ Little jabs like that sow colorism into a child very early.”

— Travis Bivans

“Melanin itself is the overall defining element that binds the black community together. The black community is the most diverse community on the planet. No two black people have the same complexion. Someone could be brown or lighter brown or chocolate or have red undertones or yellow undertones.”

— Travis Bivans