Today we’d like to introduce you to Toni Black.
Toni, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’ve been a professional photographer now for about ten years. I’ve photographed all kinds of amazing things but realized my passion was giving people a voice by creating space for people to be vulnerable. I found that through intimate lifestyle photography. With my photography, I want to capture the story everyone has, but may not be able to share with the world. I want to allow people the chance to be as authentic, sensual, serious, silly and authentic as they want to be.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
This hasn’t been a smooth road. Learning to find balance while trusting my ability is probably my biggest struggle. I didn’t know how to say no, so after burning both ends of the candle, I finally burned out. I had to learn to deal with managing my time, saying no and while kicking imposter syndrome for valuing my time more. Learning to overcome those challenges has been so fulfilling though.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I’m an intimate lifestyle photographer. I specialize in making authentic and vulnerable portraits of people. I’m known within my community for using my platform to give voice to black people of color who may not have a platform to speak their truth. I’m most proud of being able to reach people in a way that makes them think, feel and see things a little differently. I think what sets me apart is my fearlessness on being vulnerable myself. I use my platform to be as authentic as I can, good or bad. I use it to connect with people, in hopes that I can inspire them to be as vulnerable also.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was a very talkative and outgoing child. Though looking back, I may have been more timid than I led on. I was a musician. I started playing the piano at age eight, then moved to the violin and viola. From there I played flute and piccolo throughout middle school and even went to college on a music scholarship. Those were some of the most amazing times in my youth… performing on stage. I wish I had kept up with music in my adult life, but I traded an instrument for a camera and haven’t looked back since.
Contact Info:
- Email: toniblackmagic@gmail.com
- Instagram: toniblackmagic
- Facebook: toniblackmagik
Image Credit:
Toni Black Magic
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