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

Markida, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

It took me a long while to realize that I should have started pursuing a creative/artistic path even though everything was pointing in that direction. When I was a child, about like 8 or so, my grandmother had several of those old film cameras. You know the ones–from Kodak. I would run everyone down and take photos of everything. We spent a lot of time visiting the photo studio–one hour photo–to get those photos developed. I think a good chunk of my childhood photos were photos I took. Which, also meant I was often not in them. That hasn’t change. I’m not a big fan of having my own photos taken.

From there, I always had a camera. Even into high school I had a point and shoot camera from camera. It was pink. I loved it so much until the lens got stuck and it wouldn’t work anymore. One too many falls to the ground took it out the game. Photography aside, I also wrote really well and found myself writing several short stories and poems. Well, I thought I wrote well. That’s what I was told anyway. Strangely though, photography nor creative writing were my career choice. I actually wanted to be a psychologist. It wasn’t until I bought my first DSLR in college to use for my senior project did it click that maybe I could do this as a profession. Hell, I started working as a journalist with all intentions of being a TV Host in the future before I even thought about photography. But I was always told that I took great photos and decided one day “Yeah, I want to try this.”

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

For starters, My name is Markida Scotland, but I usually go by my last name, scotty or Kida. I live in the US Virgin Islands, specifically on St. Croix. I published my first book called “A Feral Affair” in 2020. It was self-published and I definitely have like three more books to publish but I haven’t finished any of them. I’m a journalist, an author, an engineer with the US Air Force, a Public Information Officer with Government of the US Virgin Islands and a photographer. Frankly, I do too many things!

Regarding the artists portions, I think it was 2014 when I took a photojournalism class in college. I attended the University of the Virgin Islands at the time. I was already one foot in the door with being a reporter and still working around using a camera professionally. Naturally, both of these paths went together. In fact, if not for journalism, I wouldn’t have gained a solid reputation as a photographer. But I digress. I wrote for my school’s newspaper–The UVI Voice–and my work was well received. I later received an offer to work for a reputable local news source–The St. Croix Source. While working at the source, I met dignitaries and other people of importance in the Virgin Islands Community. I graduated from my college with the Excellence in Communications Award and then received an offer to work at the St. Croix Avis. At the Avis, I met ALOT of people and took photos of a lot of people. Soon, photography and journalism became synonymous with my name. I took photos of/met celebrities like Janeisha John, Tim Duncan (both of whom are Virgin Islanders), Tobias Truvillion, V. Bozeman and more. Recently, Missy Elliot followed me on Twitter and I keep mentioning that to people because I have a goal of one day taking her photos.

I used to call myself “Local Lady Media.” I was a blogger/media personality who also took commissions for photography jobs at that time. Eventually, I rebranded as “Aesthete Noire” in 2021. The name, for me, means someone with an appreciation for black art and beauty. People struggle with the name but if you can pronounce Louis Vuitton, Louboutin and Givenchy, then you can learn to pronounce Aesthete Noire.

When I first started shooting, I was a Nikon girl. I used a Nikon 5300 for years before I upgraded to a Nikon D650. And Photoshop and I were besties at this point. I could never figure out Lightroom at all. I liked seeing how much I could play with a photo and photoshop always gave me that extra wiggle room to make a photo go “WOW.” Currently, I shoot with a Fuji X-T4. I think what sets me apart is how well I make things happen. Often clients will come to me and ask for some really creative tasks and I work hard to bring their vision to life. As well, think I have started to niche myself in creative madras fabric photography. It allows me to showcase a part of my culture that I find very fascinating. I work very closely with “Designs by Regal” to make this happen. If there’s anything I’m super proud of was the time when Fenty Skin by Rihanna acknowledged my work and also being published in a Destination Magazine. What I want potential clients to know about me is that I pride myself on quality and making sure they enjoy the experience when shooting with me. I like to leave long lasting impressions. I think people have come to recognize my work compared to others as well. Not to say I’m better at all, but I’ve been told my photos are between very bold or give off a “fairy tale vibe.”

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think society needs to realize the importance of artists and start to value them. Majority of the things people enjoy are the results of an artist. There are very few things you can think of that does not involve the work of an artist and yet we are underappreciated and underpaid. And when I say artist, I obviously also mean those of us in the media aspects. Where I live, for instance, has very few opportunities for photographers. We aren’t fully considered artists and the programs and grants are hardly in our favor. As well, because we aren’t acknowledged in the mainland United States, I can’t even participate in the resources that DO count because my United States Territory doesn’t count. I would ultimately have to move.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I’d like to start an Art school in the US Virgin Islands and also open an art space for those of us with a focus in that area. On a smaller scale, I also want to provide scholarships to students pursuing a career in that field as well. There are so many students who would like to tap into their creativity but believe it’s not profitable. I’d like to give them the resources to see otherwise. Lastly, I absolutely still want to be a TV Host. I’ve already named it, I just have to get started.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.aesthetenoire.com
• Instagram: aesthetenoire
• Facebook: aesthetenoire
• Linkedin: M. L. Scotland
• Twitter: aesthetenoire
• Youtube: aesthetenoire
• Other: ko-fi.com/aesthetenoire patreon.com/aesthetenoire

Image Credits
First image “Kida” is credited to: Elizabeth Galvan Ortiz All other images are credited to: Aesthete Noire Madras outfits are credited to: Giana “Regal” Christopher aka Designs by Regal