Longer Than Life
Samantha Everette‘s [BID ’07] love for photography began while studying abroad in Ghana as an industrial design student. Equipped for the first time with a semi-professional camera, she immediately experienced the joy of capturing portraits of people and their culture.
In April, she launched her latest photography exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) Raleigh. The exhibit, titled “Crowning Glory” highlights the strength and beauty of Black women through the art of hair braiding.
“The original thought that spurred the show was just this vision of a beautiful Black woman on a pedestal, with this longer-than-life Rapunzel-style hair, brimming with regality,” she says. “I wanted to make this a whole shoot.” Rather than follow the formula of taking photos after hair and makeup are complete, Everette chose to document the entire process of braiding hair.
After what ended up becoming an 11-hour session, the 12 photos she chose to hang in her gallery were put on display as part of her residency at Artspace in Raleigh.
When she first showed her photographs, the response was overwhelmingly positive – so positive, that her collection garnered the attention of multiple showing spaces around the region. Everette’s collection of photographs found its spotlight in local galleries such as the Fruit in Durham, VAE in Raleigh, and eventually their current home at CAM.
Learning to Draw with Light
Everette’s journey as an artist began early, with creativity and art weaving a constant thread throughout her life.
Throughout her school years, Everette immersed herself in advanced art classes, continuously honing her skills and expanding her artistic horizons. Her high school summers were spent at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) studying creative outlets that ranged from saxophone to fine art. At 16, she embarked on a study abroad program in Italy for fine arts, and after high school, she found herself studying at the College of Design.
There, she learned the fundamentals of photography: shutter speed, aperture, ISO and composition. After graduating in 2007, Everette began a decade-long career in shoe design that fueled many opportunities to travel the globe. However, she wouldn’t touch a camera again until 2015.
As a footwear designer, Everette found herself living in China for half of the year, and the other half back in the United States. “I took every holiday available on both countries’ calendars,” says Everette, who took the extra time available to travel to destinations such as Cambodia and Bali.
In 2018, she returned home only to be let go as a result of a company sale and moved back home to North Carolina. “At that point, I decided I just wanted to travel everywhere Black. I went to South Africa for a while, then Brazil, and then the pandemic hit,” says Everette. “I was stuck at home, and then I just started taking pictures.”
Shortly after deciding to stay in her home state, she got her first gallery showing in Durham. Her passion behind a lens quickly snowballed into a new career photographing events, families and individual portraits. Since then, her work has been featured in ten other exhibitions.
“My work focuses predominantly on Black people,” reflects Everette. “I’ve had many clients who are mixed-race or mixed-hue families – one person is tan, another is olive, another might have purple or orange undertones. If you don’t know how to color correct and expose for all of those shades, people won’t be shown authentically.”
When asked about the experiences and lessons that led to pursuing her passion full-time, Everette recommends not to take things too seriously at first.
“Do what you want to do, and don’t question the validity of a project. I’ll do a project just because I think it’s cool or pretty,” she said. “The concept doesn’t have to be deep at first. That depth – the connections and interactions you have with the community – those will happen because you’re doing something you’re interested in.”
“Crowning Glory” will be on display at CAM until September 9, 2024.
- Categories:
