Nuovo Artistic Portraits

Who Am I?

I’ve been on an identity journey my whole life!

I think we all are to the degree we become self aware.

Traveling to Morocco in January of 2023, seemed to deepen the explorer within.

I remember watching movies of Black people traveling to Africa and returning to the U.S. more “conscious”. It was often depicted as a parody.

I’m far from a “hotep (as it relates to being too deep or having an unbalanced outlook on Afrocentrism).

Hotep’s original meaning is from an Egyptian word: to be at peace.

I now look upon “hoteps” with more kindness because I see them as simply attempting to navigate the many layers of trauma associated with Blackness and connecting that to African roots.

There’s no manual on emancipation from mental slavery, so it will look different individually.

Regardless of how I express my “newness” or conversion (whatever you want to call it), I am a witness that traveling to The Motherland changes you.

Missing Identity

I’ve made so many transformations in my search for identity which included “going natural”.

I made a decision to stop chemically straightening my hair (after thirty one years), cut off all the relaxed strands and embraced my natural curls.

This process alone was more psychological than physical. Its a personal fight with years of brain and white washing.

Then there’s the other layer of conflict involving the general public (esp Black culture/family/ and friends)!

Recently I completed my third published book edit (I also wrote the foreword) aptly named Missing Identity.

The biggest and I believe most important loss of identity for Black people born outside of Africa is in DNA.

We are an “orphan” people many times with no lengthy generational knowledge.

I wanted to change that!

Ancestry.com left me lacking so I decided to invest in the more thorough African Ancestry DNA test.

On June 17, 2024, I did a LIVE social media ancestry reveal.

My maternal DNA traces back to the Tikar people living in Cameroon.

I’m still processing all of the emotions connected to that revelation and the return to The Motherland that immediately followed.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by AfricanAncestry.com (@africanancestry)

For my 43rd birthday, I booked a coronation themed photoshoot with From Where I Sea.

It turned out to be everything I imagined and more. Maurell Dickerson is the owner and he made posing a breeze.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by FromWhereISea (@fromwhereisea)

Check out his website (linked above) for affordable and professional services that include drone photography and merchandise.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Solo Travel Blog🎩👑🐝🌏🦀🇨🇲🇭🇹 🇧🇸 (@poofbeegoneblog)

A Nuovo Revelation

Before even completing photo shoot number one, I was scrolling on social media and saw an ad for Nuovo Artistic Photography.

Including Miami, they have several locations in Canada and Texas with an all women staff.

I heard “free photoshoot for your birthday” and it got my attention!

Skeptically, I thought there was a catch.

However, there is no obligation to purchase outside of the great temptation once you see the pics.

I went to their website to check out the prices since I knew I would want more than one picture.

It’s definitely an investment in you (your sensuality/femininity).

Unovo offers hair and makeup services for an extra charge. I opted to do my own.

I was actually asked if I had gotten my makeup done there, so that was a compliment to me.

Once you enter your personal studio room, you undress and drape yourself. From there, the photographer gives you all the cues.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Solo Travel Blog🎩👑🐝🌏🦀🇨🇲🇭🇹 🇧🇸 (@poofbeegoneblog)

My photographer Claudia was the bomb. She was a beauty in her own right and actually modeled each pose to copy.

The whole process lasted about thirty minutes.

The best part for me was the reveal.

I had never seen myself from those angles and I hilariously kept asking my photo consultant (Saphyra Saintfort) “Is that my hip? Is that my arm? Is that my leg?”

I looked like a powerful,  soft, glistening queen.

She reassured me the pictures were not yet edited.

I didn’t even know all that definition lay beneath the surface of my skin.

Saphyra even pointed out the warrior DNA being of Haitian descent afforded me.

I recommend this experience for women (and men) of all ages, sizes and backgrounds.

It helped me to gain a new appreciation for my body (flaws and all).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Solo Travel Blog🎩👑🐝🌏🦀🇨🇲🇭🇹 🇧🇸 (@poofbeegoneblog)

A New Point of View

I think its important to add that Saphyra said she rarely saw Haitian clients.

The older Haitian generation can be very conservative and rigid as it relates to nudity.

So as descendants, many of those beliefs can be passed down or we can avoid anything that would displease or “shame” our family.

We come into this world nude and its perfectly “normal” to photograph naked babies.

Somewhere along the way, culture and religion made the human body dirty or contrarily too pure to display.

I’m not advocating a return to prehistoric nudity, but I think western society as a whole needs balance as it relates to the naked body.

We have to cease the sexualization and see it for ALL that it is.

Mothers are still not comfortable breast feeding uncovered in public, this should not be.

On my recent visit to Southern Omo Valley in Ethiopia, I lost count of the exposed breasts and urinating penises I saw (blog coming soon).

I really believe there was a healing that took place in that photography studio.

In my mind, I still saw myself as the girl with the large fibroid who appeared pregnant!

I surprised myself and was able to get a vantage point that I would have never seen otherwise.

Man or woman reading this, I implore you to find ways to connect to your self.

For some, this photo experience can be just the tip of the iceberg!

Would you try this? Why or why not?

~Poof…Bee Gone

Please free to like/follow my social media platforms, leave me a comment, share blog posts, and subscribe to get timely updates.

© 2024, Poof Bee Gone LLC, All Rights Reserved