Cotton Child

As featured in SF WEEKLY.

“ Her name is Sa’nya. She is my granddaughter. Her veiling is the protection from entities who are damaging. The red hat symbolizes the warrior, God Shango in the Yoruba religion, the god of lightning, striking fire for change.The cotton is symbolic of her ancestors and a humbling reminder of the work that the black community has to do to uplift one another. I believe the female is essentially a god figure; She symbolizes the possibility of the community being in harmony with gods that look like them.” - Karen Sanefuru

In this timely photo series “Who we are: the will to adorn”, the subjects adorn themselves with pieces of clothing and jewelry that have a history, sentimental meaning, and significance to their identity. In a time where racial division is on the rise and anti-immigration rhetoric is prevalent, it is a joining of women who have “the will”, the deliberate intention, to celebrate the beauty of who they are. The combination of photojournalistic photographs and unconventional portraiture place subjects in their own home or landscapes that resemble their native land. With this, I am inviting viewers to look, listen, and think about the significance of adornment, the value of culture, and the will that it takes to be who we are, truly and fearlessly in America.