more than 10 years is a long time to wait between family portraits…
recently i had the chance photograph one of my favorite people…and the two handsome young men that call her mom. regina jackson is a powerhouse. anyone who knows her will tell you this over and over again. most would think that i would have met her through her amazing work at the east oakland youth development center (eoydc), but we actually connected not in oakland, but across the globe, as part of the ancestry reconnection program 1 and 2. we are cameroonian american sisters…her, from the hausa and masa, me from the bamileke.
it has been such a blessing knowing her. she is always willing to take me along for the ride, wherever she is going. (one of those places is china!) i remember when i was still hiding behind my lens in cameroon, not thinking that anything that i was taking was worth sharing or showing outside of my own family. i can still hear her saying “what you’re taking is just as good as the people that are pros. get out there!” lol by the time we got to the second trip, i had earned a press pass.
to say it was an honor to capture her family is not saying enough. we had a REAL good time and it shows below. these are beautiful people, inside and out. hopefully, our next session won’t be in ten years. 🙂
I love the way you captured their bond. Such beautiful moments that you captured of a beautiful family. And I couldn’t stp staring at mom’s jacket; I so want it…and the ring that coordinates so well.
Hi Kimberly! Thanks for the wonderful feedback. Regina’s jacket and ring were made by one of our Cameroonian sisters, Kibonen Nfi, who lives in New York. She has had a store on Etsy (nothing there now) but she does custom stuff. Let me know if you’re interested in connecting with her and I’ll do the intro 🙂