W H E R E E S S E N C E M E E T S E M B E R
An Exploration of Her - A Project by Summer Knight
Styling + Creative Direction: Summer Knight
Photography: Christopher Michael
Hair + Makeup: Mikee Stone
Inheritance (36x48in): Standing at the center of silence. A conduit between Earth and elsewhere. Her locs spill like ancestral roots: alive, reaching, remembering. Each one whispers a lineage, an unbroken line of women who have held, carried their stories into being. She is a portal. Maybe even a map. A memory of woven flesh and fiber. These are roots from the ground, and their strength rises through her. $2,000
Spectrum (30x40in): A portrait of contrast, light & dark, side by side, eye to eye. Too often, this divide among black women is not always spoken about, but deeply felt. Here, it is not denied, it's embraced. Two bodies. One gaze. One hold. The difference in skin tone becomes not separation, but symmetry. A quiet defiance of the colorism that tries to split us. This is not opposition, it's reflection. This is unity, not despite our shades, but through them. $1,100
Consecration (30x40in): A quiet ritual unfolds. Ancestral, sacred, alive. Calm in presence, holding the memory of renewal through the act of water. Black womanhood is a ceremony; not performative, but elemental. Women are a ritual. Keepers of tradition, givers and receivers of unseen grace. Vessels of spirit. More than an image, it's a living inheritance. It's remembering. $1,100
Recognition (30x40in): Through shared surface, identity and memory intertwine. A meditation on history, self-awareness, strength, trust, community, and how we see ourselves through each other. $1,100
The Quiet Language of Women (30x40in): Four women dressed in hues stand closely together. Their gazes gently meet as if in quiet conversation. As if they are gracefully emerging out of the water, the subtle shimmer around them evokes a sense of renewal and connection. The interplay of color and form captures both strength and serenity, rising together toward something new. $1,000
Unmasked (30x40in): Light and shadow dance on her skin. Each curve and crease is a testament to presence. She does not shrink. Instead, she expands herself, letting darkness hold her without consuming her. This is reclamation of body, of gaze, of space. Vulnerability here is neither posed nor passive. It is power in its purest form. $1,100
Contemplation (30x40in): The flower is held not for show, but for herself. She meets her own gaze, not seeking approval, but presence. The petals echo her softness, her ache, her memory. She is both the observer and the observed. Whole in her solitude, alive in her reflection. This is not vanity; it's merely witnessing a woman alive holding beauty in her hands while becoming it. $1,000
Becoming (30x40in): In shadow, she meets herself. No details or distractions. Only an outline and essence. The flower is an extension of her form. Softness is mirrored in petals and pose. This is a quiet symmetry of not how she appears, but as she feels. $1,100
Offering (30x40in): Only the curvature of her back and the bloom resting gently. It is not a burden, but a softness she chooses to hold close. It lingers as a memory, a touch, a gift perhaps, that was once given or found. In this quiet gesture, there is strength without armor, beauty without performance. She carries this for herself. $900
Aftermath (30x40in): In her solitude, she stands... still, yet composed, layered with contradictions. The heels speak of ritual, readiness, and presentation. The flowers gently beneath her, or perhaps dropped, speak of softness. Surrender. Possibly even something that was held close. No one sees her face. Just what remains: legs poised, beauty below. In this moment, she is entirely herself, yet offering nothing. This is the solitude of a woman; silent, symbolic, sovereign. $1,000
Ascension (30x40in): The women united in sisterhood weave a rope of strength and resilience. Bringing forth what they have, as they are. Each braid a bond of love to raise their sisters higher. $1,100
Gravity of Us (30x40in): In a world that asks us to perform, we lie down instead. Each color a memory, a choice, a refusal. As much as we are the same, we are not. $1,100
Release (36x48in): Internal pain becomes visible, especially in a vulnerable space. We all have a different story, essentially crying the same tears. $1,800
Passage of Tide (30x40in): There is no leader, only movement. Their presence speaks without sound. A ceremony of softness and strength. Under the haze, they become the tide and thread weaving sisterhood into ritual and beauty into resistance. $1,000
Trust (30x40in): Three hands, three stories woven in a quiet choreography of trust. Different shades of flesh, layered not in contrast, but in harmony. Not one hand follows. They lift, they lean, they hold. Intertwined in silence, they speak of resilience, of softness, and what it means to be and feel together. $900
Afterglow 01: Held (20x30in) $750
Afterglow 02: Knowing (20x30in) $700
Afterglow 03: Ignition (20x30in) $700
Afterglow 04: Kin (20x30in) $750
Afterglow 05: Fragment (20x30in) $650
Afterglow 06: Forward (20x30in) $650