We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful N’Dia. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with N’Dia below.

N’Dia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

The first time I knew that I wanted to pursue a creative artistic path professionally was actually during the pandemic. I’ve always been a creative when it came to my photography. I’ve always had a vision of where I wanted to go. It was just a matter of actually putting myself out there to work towards those dreams. I’m originally from Virginia, but during the pandemic I had moved to Maryland and got introduced to some great creative in the state. I went from flying solo, to being in a crew with two other photographers and a videographer. I later realized they weren’t in the space of photography that I want it to be in and that’s when I left the crew. Continuing on with my journey, I came across street meets that are held around Maryland and DC and that’s how I got introduced to the amazing people that I know today. Between the models, other photographers, and videographers other individuals of the arts. Just opened my eyes to a world that I knew for a fact I want to be a part of forever. Continuing to put myself out there, I ended up realizing that shooting for the fashion and commercial industry is where I want be. As I am currently shooting with a modeling talent agency, I’m still taking those necessary baby steps towards my dreams. I went from doing photography as a hobby to doing it as a craft, and then venturing into doing it as a lifestyle. It’s literally a part of me.

N’Dia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

For the ones that may not know me, my brand name is NovaLynn Creations, NovaLynn or Nova for short. I specialize in editorial and commercial based photography. This journey throughout my career thus far has been such a ride and one hell of a learning experience. Between likes and dislikes what I will tolerate what I won’t tolerate But the most important of all is learning about myself. That’s where I feel the discipline really comes in play. I used to be very easy-going when it came to photographing people. In my opinion, not everybody is a model not everyone is going to fit my brand so overtime I became very selective. I can say an example of one of a requirement of mine when shooting models, male or female, nails need to be clean/polished and hair needs to be presentable or neat, unless of course a messy style is apart of the look. Other than that, I’m pretty flexible with all my clients my motto is there’s always more than one way to skin a cat. We will get the job done either way. One thing that I am most proud of is how I make my clients feel. I’ve had a lot of first timers and I want each and every one of my clients to feel more confident then they did prior to meeting me. Even with shooting with established models, just receiving that feedback that they had so much fun shooting with me, brings joy to my heart and keeps me motivated with continuing to make a difference.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

In my opinion with society and supporting us creatives will be a lot better if people weren’t so judgmental and more open minded. Honestly when it comes to support, it truly stems down to us the creatives. We are literally our foundation, we have to stop being in competition with one another. Love more on each other because at the end of the day, it’s all a chain reaction to help us elevate our creative flow.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One lesson that I had to unlearn on my journey, is that even though there’s multiple people doing the same craft as you and you see them as inspiration doesn’t mean that you have to do it as they do. It’s not a monkey see monkey do industry. It’s more of monkey sees and takes notes all while putting their creative spin on it to become their own individual.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @_novalynncreations