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Visual Serenity: a photo essay
Ascendant photographer Tanisha shares her images reflecting serenity and explains what it means to her.
Serenity to me means a visual balance of calmness and thought. Showing women in my images that are full of serenity means placing them where they can be comfortable in their own skin and not having to keep up with society’s standards, or feel pressured to please others for the sake of being liked.
In most of the images I have used flowers. Flowers can symbolise many things, but to me, they mean beauty, diversity, personality and blooming freedom. As women, we can open up to new things and not be held back. We can grow like flowers.
For example, I’m a 15-year-old black female photographer. In the photograph where there’s a hand over the models face (top), the hand symbolises how our society’s perspective on women shadows their ability to prove themselves. They should be able to do this not only to themselves but to others around them. Who they want to be as a female should be up to them and not what society has put in place for us. In the media we are usually objectified and shown in a provocative light. My photographs show the opposite.
Being a portrait photographer allows me to connect with my models, allowing them to embrace their inner self naturally through my lens whether a posed or natural shot. Doing this allows a sense of calmness in each of my photograph. I leave it to you, the viewer, to have a sense of visual serenity wave over you whilst viewing my work.
This body of work shows how I can explore and tell visual stories about topics and issues personal to me, stories about the generation we live in today.
To see more of Tanisha’s work, follow her Instagram @tanishaclaudae_photos
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About the author
Tanisha Claudae
Tanisha Claudae is a teenage portrait and editorial photographer, born and raised in Bristol. Her work is based around visually story telling and showcasing themes around diversity, culture, individuality and many more societal topics around the community she lives in. Tanisha created her own photography business Tanisha Claudae Photography in 2017 and it has gained a wide range of interest from social media and by word of mouth.
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