A Sacred Act of Self-Definition

In a world oversaturated with imagery, finding your place in fashion photography is not about mimicking trends — it is about declaring a vision so distinct, so sacred, that it carves its own path through the noise. Creating your own niche is not merely a business move. It is a spiritual invocation. A revelation of who you are and what you’ve come to say through light, fabric, and form.

When I began, there was no template for what I envisioned. I saw fashion not just as garments or glamour, but as a language of myth, mysticism, and memory. I didn’t just want to photograph clothing — I wanted to photograph presence. The soul in the silhouette. The divinity in the detail. That instinct became my compass.

Here is what I’ve learned:

1. Find the Frequency Only You Can Broadcast

Your niche must be born from obsession — not convenience. What do you love so much you’d shoot it in the dark, unpaid, unrecognized? What visual universe do you orbit naturally, without calculation?

For me, it was the intersection of fashion and divinity. I wanted my subjects to look like deities, messengers, myths brought into the now. Once I understood that, I stopped trying to appeal to the industry and started summoning my own world. And when you build your own world, the world comes to you.

2. Curate Your Aesthetic Vocabulary

Every niche has a language — tones, textures, colors, compositions, symbols. Think of it like alchemy. The more specific your ingredients, the more potent your magic.

For example, my work leans heavily into chiaroscuro lighting, mythological references, high-luxury styling, and architectural settings that feel sacred — temples, cathedrals, brutalist spaces. Even when I photograph in nature, it is with an eye toward sacred geometry and iconography. Your niche will become recognizable not by what you say, but how you say it — consistently, unapologetically.

3. Marry Your Craft to a Calling

A niche becomes powerful when it transcends aesthetics and becomes purposeful. Who are you shooting for? What truth are you unveiling through your lens? Maybe your calling is to celebrate the full spectrum of Black beauty. Maybe it’s to deconstruct gender through fashion. Maybe it’s to evoke ancestral memory through textile and gesture.

When your niche serves a higher purpose — even if that purpose is simply to remind the world of beauty — it will carry a resonance that outlasts algorithms and trends.

4. Reject Permission, Embrace Precision

Do not wait for Vogue to validate your vision. Do not dilute your niche to be more “palatable.” Your job is to become so specific that the right clients, collaborators, and collectors cannot unsee you. The truth is, fashion doesn’t need more photographers. It needs new prophets — image-makers who dare to show us the unseen.

Precision means curating your portfolio like scripture. Every image should be a sermon, every editorial a temple. It means refining your art until it becomes unmistakable — a signature, not just a style.

5. Build Ecosystems, Not Just Galleries

Once you’ve defined your niche, let it evolve into an ecosystem. For me, this meant launching SHAMAYIM Studios, The SHADDAI Luxury Book, luxury retreats, and high-concept fashion experiences that extended the vision beyond photography. I no longer just offer photos — I offer a world.

Think about how your niche can extend into books, exhibitions, short films, merchandise, creative direction, or teaching. A niche is not a limit — it is a portal.

6. Stay in Devotion to Your Vision

There will be seasons where your niche feels too niche. Where you question if it’s “working.” But understand this: what makes a niche powerful is duration. Stay faithful. Keep refining. Keep experimenting. Keep listening to that whisper inside that says, “This is mine to create.”

Remember: you are not here to copy what’s been done — you are here to consecrate a new space. If you do that — with devotion, with clarity, and with depth — your niche will not only elevate your work, it will become your ministry.

Final Word:

Your camera is not a machine — it is a mirror, a compass, a key. Use it to unlock something eternal. Create not for attention, but for ascension. The industry will catch up. But you — the true you — must lead.