EYE on the Dark Hue.

Roland Dawson took this picture of Ilahaya Brianna Archangel 

in the spirit of the "Queen of the Damned" movie. Body paint by Black Night Nero. (2018).

Jonica Steward by Roland Dawson. The theme is #denimanddiamonds. (2018).

Model, Nadia by Roland Dawson 

taken at Thomas Imagery studio in August 2018.

Unbelief in the strength of women is founded on a concept of an overextended version of male superiority that suffers under the glare of our women, who know better. In the context of Black American history the strength of concepts from matrilineal societies hold Black families intact. Today, all the factors that debilitated the new Africans in the Americas were challenged by the old, strong traditions from the Land of the Blacks!...

I make this point because the power of this image brings this to the forefront. The strength Black American women have needs to be respected, understood, deciphered and held against the wisdom depths of our Ancestors, who understood in depths we, as a People, have long forgotten! This photograph, Roland, has those powers. So much of your work toys with the loins, but on a deeper level the high intelligence of your work is invigorating because it has a basis in a connection with who you are, and where you come from in the Ancestral Realms. I know this is a lot to discern and discuss about photography, but Black Americans cannot help but evoke thoughts and reactions this profound. It is part of the genius we come from, and revisit!... - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 8/28/18 

Gorgeously Nelly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania taken 

by Roland Dawson. [Feb. 2018]

Roland Dawson, you have done quite the impressive introspective photo sessions centered around, and about Gorgeously Nelly. Quite the thoughtful and fun approaches you use.

Again, I love what you do and enjoy the stimulation of thoughts, and emotions in your views...

It is intriguing the trend, this century, of women hiding their eyes with color. Perhaps, it is a reaction to predatory ways of young cats not listening, but acting as if they listen. Eyes do not need to hide, if prospective boyfriends, or husbands know how to read and see. That is quite the combination: thinking and observation. The better part of fatherhood teaches what is understood as responsibility. "It is all in the eyes." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 10/03/18

Look Into Their Eyes.

Vanity's Playboy picture 

Barbara Babcock, an actress on the series, Hill Street Blues, in the early 1980's was to me the most sensual woman on television. What she did onscreen was undeniable, memorable, and unbelievable!! ~ Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 

Sirens: Christy Taylor, Musetta Vander, Mia Tate, from the 2000 movie, "Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?" singing as they flow towards three defenseless Southern white boys! The effect was disarming to me the viewer, and I was grateful to not have been asked to test my mettle against their powers. In particular, the lead siren weakened me, and she was on the big screen! Imagine what I would have had to do in their presence! Would it have been less a stress upon me as those from my own past challenges by such creatures? I'll not ever know. As Gil Scott-Heron sang in one of songs: "It's only a movie!" ~ Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 

Captivating subject captured by photographer, Brian Lewis Houghton 

in May 2015. titled: "Man Cave" 

Tera Patrick's seduction begins with her eyes, or it is her movements within stillness, the slopes of her body, or the way she evades scrutiny attracting judgement and envy simultaneously. Pondering such subtleties is a mark of maturity in a man understanding how women are mysterious in our endeavors to be successful and worth their effort assessing our value against their needs. Is it important how a whore regards our manhood? Yes, it is when the warrior code asks for clarity to see how the craft needs to merge with the elements of sexual congress... - Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories

STRENGTH and DELICATE

Roses and Yaniksa Lee captured in essence by Roland Dawson. 2018.

Delicate is the essential quality of the rose. Assembled in numbers is the strength of accumulated essences of all those roses. Roses, if you know the story of the rose, breath around the spirit of certain women leaving the scent of an essence highly valued in sacred ways of being alive. Once glimpsed it changes the perception of women in even a crude soul. But, in this moment Yaniksa Lee is delight in the wonder of an essence under valued in our society. . . - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 11/30/18

Victoria Hunnie Jewelz by Roland Dawson shot at Philly Studio 11 in November of 2018.

NOT FAR: Europe's DARK AGES!

Grief after Kavanaugh's appointment. 

photo by Mary Mathis. October 5, 2018.

I shot the Kavanaugh protests this morning for NPR, and this is the photo that will always stick with me. I walked up to her after, needing her name for the photo but knowing it was a terrible time to ask. When I asked, she ignored me and said, “How are we going to find the strength to keep fighting?” I was speechless.
She said, “Are we going to be out here for another 30 years? I don’t have 30 years left.” - Mary Mathis

Kyla Cole, in the powers of... 

photographer unknown. Sorry. 

3 Things Give Clarity.

"the deep sense of a woman's need for a man inside of her resides with the equal capacity to love, to endure, to care or not care. Those powerful choices can run a gauntlet through a man's soul." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories

"The defiance within Black women isn't that, it is them stilling themselves against the forces against them one mo' gin'! It serves them better for you to be an advocate, rather than a man trying to get in her panties!..." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 5/26/18

Lady composed in her serendipity tulle skirt . . .

Care is important to beauty, to stay alive and relevant. It is simple things that keep us alive and engaged in the complexity of living. - Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories 5/26/18

the Mysterious links Eyes need See...

AFRICAN WOMAN POWERS 

photographer Leni Riefenstahl, in the 1970's, in Sudan captured this love dance (Njertun) performed by the The Nuba of Kau.

Thick thighs have saved Black men. This is a part of a whole message of healing a Black woman's capacity to restore aches for balance between her man, her importance in this world against her essential self!..." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 4/28/18

About This:

Debbie Allen, choreographer, actress and director of note.

"There will never be authentic women like these two women to teach Black girls to be ladies without Black ladies teaching them to be ladies. If this isn't a community concern be concern; no good thing comes from this indifference." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories [march 22, 2018]

Diana Ross without makeup is as captivating as light from Moon to Water...

Homage Paid to a Man.

Martin Luther King's deep words of challenge to cowardice.

PERSONALLY pause to pay homage to a man courageous enough never to let his spirit die though his life was under constant threat. His sacrifice was the ultimate; his message was timeless. I think of him as the original drum major of love. Misunderstood. Maligned. Mistreated. He was just one of many deserving of equal honor who's names we may or may not ever know. But on this day where we celebrate his birth, I PERSONALLY pause to honor him and symbolically pay the same honor to the millions of others like him who will never get a holiday of their own though they also made the ultimate sacrifice. It is because of them all that I am even here - a humbling thought by itself.

So though a few words offered in social media is woefully inadequate to express what I'm truly feeling, it's something my heart compels me to do. So for him and all those like him who chose spirit over life and made it possible for me to be . . .

I sincerely, humbly, from the depth of my whole soul say 'thank you'. - Eden Adele, Jan. 16, 2017

A Man Teaches a man.

"It Takes Discipline to Call the Warrior up from within..." 

Jeans. Whom they were made for...

The focused penetration of the eyes measures, exacts a toll, offends dishonesty, and demands a touch soul to soul worthy of woman's station in her life... - Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories  

The focused penetration of the eyes measures, exacts a toll, offends dishonesty, and demands a touch soul to soul worthy of a woman's station in her life that dispenses judgments without apologies for a simple reason. It has to do with ownership. Being free begins with the stories you are born into, overcome if need be, and the stories that study the outcomes (foresight) and the insight of higher awareness. In our daughters we place these elements as fathers. This is the significant part of parenting underplayed in the common vernacular of popular culture.

These are my words. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories [Dec. 21, 2016]

Jennifer bent down to get in her suitcase. Her dress snapped up and over a perfect bottom leaving me speechless, and weakened by the excitement. What I did was different from what I wanted to do. What I did do kept me in check. It is how we stand that keeps us right. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories [Dec. 21, 2016]