Photographers of color and their stock photography provide us with some of the greatest and most useful photographs in our creative endeavors.
That fact is also perhaps never as important as it is around Christmas. Namely for the reason that Christmas cards jump off the shelves this time of year. And the honest, insightful, and reflective photographs taken by stock photographers of color lend themselves to people emboldened by the comforting holiday spirit.
From family portraits to city-scapes to the perfect tree, here are some of the photographers we’re keeping on our radar this Christmas.
Prolific Kid is highlighting Black East Coast creatives
Prolific Kid, as he is known on Instagram, captures mainly portraits of creatives of color.
This work has thus inspired him to create an interview docuseries titled From The Eastside With Love. The series aims to highlight Black artists as they dive into their world of creativity and artistry.
As before mentioned, Prolific Kid, or Kevin, captures creatives of color, but he also likes to set his focus on those from the East coast region. This means he is often shooting in New York, with Brooklyn and Syracuse being two examples.
Prolific Kid’s photographs stick with you, as they are honest portrayals of the subject, and how Kevin sees them. He is also switching the narrative, and representing stock photographers of color profoundly.
Jamel Shabazz is a BIPOC photographer using the past to inspire the future
Jamel Shabazz, a street photographer based in NYC, has spent this season looking back in time for his creative inspiration.
Shabazz started as a photographer in the 1980s intending to document life in NYC, particularly the culture of Black youth in the city.
He is an author of several books and currently very active on Instagram. Shabazz posts colorful, inspiring, and throwback photos for his over 125K followers to see.
He will also continue to create photographs that inspire a new kind of Christmas card. One that is more representative of the real feelings communities of color feel during the holidays.
J-F Savaria’s shots of Montreal are perfect for the new age of Christmas cards
There’s another photographer active on Instagram making a mark this December: J-F Savaria. While Savaria doesn’t appear to have a dedicated website as a professional photographer, he is a skilled and frequent poster on his Instagram page.
Based in Montreal, Savaria’s photos show unique views of the city, night and day. And during the Christmas season, that has meant pictures of displays of light, public parades, and street decorations.
Savaria’s pictures have also appeared in other publications, so clearly his skill as one of many stock photographers of color is getting some recognition.
Andre D. Wagner is one of many stock photographers of color inspiring change
Andre D. Wagner is a photographer living and working in Brooklyn. His photographs have been commissioned by The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Cut, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, WSJ, Time Magazine, and Vogue, among other publications.
Wagner even photographed iconic key images in the film Queen & Slim.
The point is that Wagner is a highly respected and accomplished photographer, and the portraits he captures of cityfolk teem with an honest fruitfulness. It’s as if he is behind the lens crafting, and the photo materializes before him. A talent that could be said for many stock photographers of color.
Yoselin Moreno is a student stock photographer capturing beauty in Memphis
Student photographer Yoselin Moreno looks to be gearing up for a winter of portrait photography in the Memphis, Tennessee area.
The photographer’s Instagram page is currently full of Fall- and Thanksgiving-themed pictures, mainly portraits but, also some creative assortments of seasonal-appropriate flora. We expect to see this budding photographer find some great shots this winter.
Stock photographers of color inspire us differently
All five of these stock photographers of color attack their work differently. But, in the same vein, their work all has something different to it. There is an authenticity, a visceral realness that you can feel in your stomach when you gaze into the light of their art.
Stock photography, or photography of any kind, is no easy profession. But photographers of color find a way to distinguish themselves with their honest and reflective work. And because of that, new Christmas cards and inspiration will be born.