ivysion...

The words of Timothy Ivy...

"In my day to day life I'm a photojournalist for various publications.

For 20+ years I've been privileged to tell local, national and international stories with my camera. I've been allowed into the lives of both famous and every day people."

"In that time I've seen a lot of beauty and a lot of ugliness. As a way to counter-balance the ugliness I see through the lens, I engage in personal artistic projects that allow me to express more peace and beauty."

"One such project in which I'm currently engaged is capturing the beauty of natural Black women. I'm interested in photographing women who celebrate their natural, raw beauty in an effort to show the grace and soul that such beauty represents."

Welcome to the Garden, Timothy. Hope to see more of your beautiful captures on display. You can see more of his works here.

Naana and Jason Thomas of the HalfShow.com

Jason Thomas is the male half of TheHalfShow.com - a variety entertainment internet radio show.

But by night, by weekend, he is an actor, moviemaker, and podcaster. And while he is an avid photographer, Jason continues to focus on advancing his acting career and completing his first full-length feature film. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

His model for these excellent Afrocentric images is the beautiful plus size model, Naana Hayford.
For more info and links on his Jason various activities as well as more info on his model, Naana, go here.

Remember Peace, Remember Pleasure...

Tomorrow, Saturday, Sept 5 at 8 pm...

Join in a celebration of two artists, “Remember Peace, Remember Pleasure” features the photography of Saddi Khali and the music of Nakia Henry at the Casa Freia Gallery in New York

Designed to incite the senses, the evening features both photography and music. For the eyes, a photo exhibit will challenge dominant standards of beauty. For the ears, a CD release and performance will reshape the limits of song.

The Casa Frela Gallery is hosting an opening reception for the artist on Saturday September 5th, 2009, 8pm to midnight

Casa Frela Gallery

47 West 119th Street (between Lenox Avenue and Fifth Avenue ) NYC.

$10 donation at the door.

Art and CDs will be sold at the event.

For more information on the exhibition go here.

To learn more about Nakia Henry go here and for more on Saddi Khali go here.

-Vincent

J Love and PGNubian

J Love's goal is to create images that showcase beauty and creativity. It was that simple and he always had an eye for energetic, creative and talented models. With a background in fashion and love for creating images that portray an inner story he loves any opportunity to take his captures to another level.

He's an artistic explorer and,for a moment, PGNubian was his muse. She was a naptual beauty full of life and originality and vision. The two of them together made a few poignant, colorful and powerful captures as I am sure you will agree.

Both talented individuals are visionary in their efforts with aesthetic philosophies driving their creative endeavors. You can see more J Loves works here and PGNubian's here.

Bintou courtesy of Dallas J. Logan

These are captures of Bintou, a model of Senegalese descent from Brooklyn. Dallas J. Logan was the photography of the striking images. He's worked with a DSLR for about 2 1/2 years and in that short time he's done magazine editorials, two clothing line campaigns, two skin care campaigns and an underwear line... He "now teach others the little bit I know."

In those two years I guess he has learned the technical aspects of photography but the creative artistry portrayed in his works belies that relatively short period of study. And his vision is clear in both his works and his words. We are fortunate to share some of his works in the Garden.

Get to know the works and words of Dallas here and here.

Anomalia Chin and the House of Light step into nature...

A short pictorial set of some extraordinary images from an extraordinary pair. Light, muse and nature as seen through the eye of Michael Bennett. Need I say more?





This is just a few of the images and you see more of Michael provocative and artistic explorations on his blog here. And to see Anomalia's modeling portfolio, just go to here.

the artist and model and silhouette...

"The Artist is Michael Bennett and the Muse is Anomalia Chin. And this is their magic.


For these images, Michael Bennett wanted to shoot in studio trying a little variation on the silhouettes he'd been doing. He appreciated the sense of sensuality in this set and the soft and subdued quality a lot of the captures have. These images are an innovative compositional mix of Anomalia's hair, overall figure and skin tone. The two of them created some of the most creatively, sensual and passionately glamorous captures in the Garden.




This is just a few of the images and you see more of Michael provocative and artistic explorations on his blog here. And to see Anomalia's modeling portfolio, just go to here .

Lerniece...a model for the movement....

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Racism exists inside the black race. Light skinned versus dark skin, long ‘good’ hair versus kinky hair, and now African versus African-American. It is not the models themselves doing this. It is the industry that has decided what black beauty has to look like.

-Mwabi Kaira-Murdock

Stand up for change, Dare to be Different
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Everything written above is straight from her modeling portfolio. This young model sports a vision that, not only breaks the mold, it picks it up, redefines it and broadens the perspective. She comes across as a pragmatist with a vision. Her beauty is evident as I am sure you will agree. You can check out the rest of her model portfolio here.

The UrbanGeisha of Brooklyn...

In the process of working on the web portal I've approached various people to contribute content. One such person is the UrbanGeisha, Farah B. from Brooklyn. A recent reality TV show star (Redemption Song on FUSE TV) she's a professional model/hairstylist/MUA in the New York area whose captures are breathtaking. See for yourself. And you can see more images of her on her modeling profile here.

inspired verse...

That window, even screened,
allows lady beetles.
Luck sprinkles the ceiling.
Magazines and perm rollers
litter your flat like
so many sweets
beaten from a donkey.

But right now, little matters
except butter. Butter, you hope,
will armor you: against
the city's parasitic grit,
against your bus mate's
accosting grin. The coarsest of
sentiments slipping
past manilla teeth.

Morning breathes her last. Your
metronome quickens as the wind
hijacks Adhan,
presses traces of worship
against your hips, and
trails you to the door.

Khadeshia...West End Butta

New York To The Heart, But She’s Got Love For All!
Khadeshia is serious about her creativity. Never conforming to the industry standards, because, for her, the epitome of beauty is what’s true, so eventually the industry will conform to her as the standard, and if not she is just fine thriving outside the box. Poet, model, actress and the inventor of K. Beam Creations Custom Buttas, she is a beauty on the move. It was her beauty and her buttas that sparked the theme for these captures.