In the spirit of it being Black History Month, I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to highlight Black creatives that are currently making their mark on the world. It’s always important to remember the trailblazers and pioneers from before but it’s also beautiful to see how the baton has been picked up and carried since then, the harvest of the seeds once planted from the greatness that preceded them. The first creative that I’d like to highlight this month is:

Qurissy, a Chicago native/LA based photographer (IG @qurissy)

Qurissy is a proud Westside of Chicagoan that is currently paving her way in Los Angeles, California. She is actively an Art Director at Gumbo Media. Gumbo Media is “a storytelling platform and content engine that expands the narrative of Black life” that “creates a circular ecosystem for Black expression led by curators, creatives, consumers, and champions of the Black community.” Here, Qurissy uses her gift to convey the stories of others through her lens and creative input. She is an extremely talented photographer with the ability to capture the essence of any moment.

Qurissy has spent a great amount of her career documenting music artists, writers, and food makers. She prides herself in remaining authentic in her work. According to Qurissy, her goal is to “direct her subjects to be their own storytellers.” Her work is abundant in “texture, deep tone, and richness.” Qurissy conveys these aspects as an art director in projects like “cover art, zines, as well as brand development and redesigns.”  

If you go over to her website https://www.qurissyphoto.co/ , you’ll be able to check out her incredible portfolio which showcases the magnitude of her range and creativity. Below are just a few of the many photos captured by Qurissy:

Qurissy has been featured in Chicago Reader, Forbes, Out Magazine, NBA.com, Pitchfork, Spotify, Apple, Tidal, and various other music and writing publications. I have no doubt that as time goes on this list will continue to be filled with even more high profile names. Her undeniable eye and perspective are rightfully sought after.

In February of 2022, Qurissy was commissioned by The Chicago Bulls and Crown Royal for a Black History Month series titled “Black Joy In Basketball.” The series captured various Black women across Chicago and their love of the sport. I had the pleasure of being in front of Qurissy’s lens for this project (photos below) where I was able to witness first hand how welcoming and reassuring she is with her models. This was huge for me because at this time, I was in a phase where I wanted to come out of my shell and be a part of more things. I strongly remember not being all the way confident that I could be comfortable in front of the camera when I showed up, but it was too late to turn back, and I’m beyond glad that I didn’t.

She didn’t judge, make you feel uneasy, or anything of the sort. She encourages you to just be in your element and have fun with it. It’s extremely easy to see that Qurissy has an immense passion for what she does and it is easily conveyed in her work and can be immediately felt when working with her in person. It’s very cool to see someone operate in their creative glory and establish their own style. And she has done just that.

Being from the Westside of Chicago, Qurissy is showing herself to be living proof that you can follow your dreams. The youth in Chicago need as many examples as possible that prove to them that there are so many wonderful things that they could become in this world regardless of their upbringing and environment. Not only the youth, but even adults need reminders that anything is still possible even though life makes you feel like it isn’t sometimes. It’s refreshing to have someone from the land spreading their roots and making magic across the world. I hope that Qurissy knows that she is important to Chicago and a pioneer in her own right. The work that she is doing is necessary and absolutely important for the culture.

Qurissy is very open about her life journeys on social media and documents them which I find to be very inspiring because not everyone has the courage to just….be vulnerable. Allowing us the opportunity to take a peek into her life from time to time is wonderful because it shows the complete scale of the life of a creative. There is power in being transparent. This could very well be considered an advantage for Qurissy because people love someone that they can relate to. A people’s person.

The brilliant Black creatives of our past would be proud to see the way and lengths that Qurissy has been carrying the baton. We look forward to following her journey and the countless amazing future projects that she will work on. Please follow Qurissy on Instagram (@qurissy) and go over to her website https://www.qurissyphoto.co/ to take a more in depth look at her portfolio, collaborate, or even book her for a project. Please support this Black creative!

Happy Black History Month! Thank you for reading and please return to see the next highlighted Black creative for the month. Please comment any Black creatives that you think need to be highlighted in this segment!

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