Acclaimed photographer and Lost Girl Vision founder Kylee Carter has captured more than just vibrant stills. The Lansing, MI native has endeared herself to the hearts of her community, a connection she achieved through expressive cinematography that’s been remarkably frozen in time and made available for framing.
In THIS INTERVIEW Kylee tells us about the “Black Girl Magic” photoshoot that introduced our team to her work, the origin of Lost Girl Vision, and she explains the art of photography and why she was drawn to it. THIS is for YOU!
KyLee, I want you to think about your favorite picture of yourself. Was it the photographer, the setting, or something else entirely that brought the best out of you?
My favorite picture of myself was taken at the most beautiful rock park near Detroit. My best friend and I set up a photoshoot for some promotional and social media content for our podcast we were doing at the time. To have my photo taken by a Black female photographer, in a gorgeous natural setting, surrounded by girl power was empowering and made me feel beautiful and strong in every way.
How do you earn your clients trust and achieve their comfort before you start taking their photos?
It is so important for me to not only gain a client but to gain a friendship. I want my clients to feel supported in every way whether that means going the extra mile and curating a playlist for our shoot day, creating a mood board, scouting out the perfect location, etc. I want my clients to win, to succeed, and to prosper, and I will do whatever I can to make them feel the most comfortable and excited for their photoshoot.
What about a setting makes it the best for a shoot?
I am all about the vibes a setting can bring to a photo. Each consultation I have with a client, I personally go out and search for the perfect location to bring to life their concept. Lansing has so much to offer, and I love to utilize my own city to find the perfect setting.
Tell us what was going on in your life when you realized you wanted to be a photographer.
At the time, there was so much chaos going on in the world. Racial injustices, climate change, politics. I wanted an outlet to be able to create beauty and art. Most importantly, I wanted to be able to uplift the Black community and connect with people in our community and embrace one another through my creativity. I wanted to be able to capture Black men and women and tell their story through my lens and show the world that black is beautiful.
Why is your photography called Lost Girl Vision?
I always found myself fascinated with the story of Peter Pan and always related to the Lost Boys. I always considered myself to be a lost girl, a girl with a different vision and outlook on life than the others around me.
Explain why taking photos is an art.
To create a concept, compose a relationship with the subject and environment, and sprinkle in your artistic eye is absolutely a form of art. Photography is an art form that takes skill, artistic ability and an understanding of lighting, equipment, and technology. There is a real skill associated with capturing photos that speak to the viewer and incites a reaction in them that’s no different to the reactions evoked by art itself.
You recently conducted a shoot titled “Black Girl Magic” with several prominent women in your community. How did this come about?
Often Black women are stigmatized with the connotation that we are loud, aggressive, and hard. “The Angry Black Woman” is a stereotype that has followed us for generations and society has eaten it up.
Growing up I always looked for representation anywhere I could in music, movies, superheroes, Disney Princesses, etc. There were never enough Black women shown as leaders, professionals, and role models in mainstream media. We are consistently underrepresented, and I wanted to put together a styled shoot to showcase that Black women are more than what centuries of stigmas have perceived us as.
We are educators, entrepreneurs, athletes, professionals. I wanted to get a group of wonderful Black women in one room and showcase the beauty and art that is the Black woman. I wanted to show our community that Black girl magic is real and is something to be proud of!
Is it important to you that women get presented or present themselves respectfully?
I think it’s important for women to be in the forefront always. Women are magical, beautiful, strong creatures who wear many hats all day, every day. Women are mothers, wives, professionals, chefs, teachers, all in a day’s work. Women deserve to be embraced and presented. I fully believe it’s important for a woman to establish her own narrative.
When it comes to your photography is it better to be inspired or hired?
Lost Girl Vision’s slogan is “Let’s Create Art Together.” I am forever grateful when I am hired for a photoshoot but to be inspired is the most important aspect for me. There was no monetary value for my Black Girl Magic shoot. That was a photoshoot I did for myself and for the Black woman community in Lansing. I wanted to inspire one another and create art together. I believe we did just that.
Lastly, KyLee, besides your own photoshoot, when else recently have you experienced “Black Girl Magic” or just the magic of productive, encouraging people in general?
I experience Black Girl Magic every single day. Black women in our community are continuously opening new doors and breaking the glass ceiling. Black women attaining their PhD’s, opening Black bookshops curated for Black women, starting new businesses, chasing their dreams. There are Black women uplifting and empowering one another every single day.
I am consistently in awe and inspired by the constant support I have received since I started Lost Girl Vision, especially by my fellow Black women in Lansing. I hear you, I see you, and I feel you. Keep sprinkling that BLACK GIRL MAGIC sisters! |THIS.
[By Mr. Joe Walker]
