We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kyla Henderson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kyla , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

I am for sure happier as a creative! Me being anything other than a creative wouldn’t be truly me. I love the idea of being able to be a photographer and that be my regular job. I had the honor to be a part of an internship that allowed me to use my craft for a “regular job”. This internship showed me that every department every career needs a creative and that’s the area I’m meant to be in.

Kyla , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m not only a woman, I’m a black woman and a black woman of god that uses a lens of perspective to redefine the ugly. My creative supper power is finding the beauty in ugly and telling that love story. I have won 7 awards, had 3 of my works displayed at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, Black Creativity Exhibition, winning 1 place in the youth division. I’ve been working behind the camera for over 5 years and developing creatively for as long as I can remember. I got my start with a camera helping my mom with her beauty outreach program, called Street Beauty Mentoring. She would always tell me I had an eye for angles she had never seen. My church has a media and fine arts department where they help nurture my gift and talents in every aspect but I was mainly their photographer. My second year of high school the church began to hire me for various events, live recordings and workshops. My gift made room for me. I will say I haven’t embraced thinking about myself as an artist, I am a diverse photographer. I am well experienced in several areas, having focused on: landscape, nature, portraits, events, and street photography. However in the last year or so, still pictures for social media content and brand building has pulled my attention. That market cause me to really push my limits in a creative way.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Photojournalism and sports photography is the bigger picture. It is the thought of traveling to different places in the world, capturing the contrast of ugly and beauty  that has the ability to change peoples prospective of the world that drives my creative journey. Remember I have not embraced myself as artist, all I see is diversity through a lens and the free range to capture and create. It’s the small achievements getting to the bigger picture that will drive my creative journey.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

First what is resilience? Resilience is the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. I am 18 and I was able to recover from grief. Between the ages of 7 and 10 I lost my grandma Gina, papa, and uncle Terry. All three were full time figures in my life so their absence was felt. Processing then and having understanding now is how I can put words to how those loses impacted me. Quitting or giving up was never an option. My mom could only  do what she knew to do to assure in these life transitions I didn’t feel the voids; but these three people I considered my Ironman, Wonder Woman and Winnie the Pooh. Withstanding I held to the parts of them that would shape me to be the young woman I am today. The process was being active in activities like, choir, theatre, volleyball, social clubs at school etc. I looked forward to the other young people at my church to laugh with on Sundays. I had siblings that I could talk to. Though I still don’t have all the answers to questions about how to process grief, I know that it’s ok not to know. I’m no longer mourning, but I do know that capturing emotion will be the basis of all of my work because that is what the process showed me. The biggest thing that I know for sure is that they couldn’t be any more proud of my accomplishments and obstacles I’ve overcome, and they would be so happy for their little black girl. I gained my greatest superpower, photography. This life obstacle was necessary for shaping me into the young woman I am today and connecting me to my passion.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ksh-photography.square.site
• Instagram: queen_photographer13
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyla-henderson-605838252/

Image Credits
I Kyla Henderson have the rights in all of the images being used