breaking out the 9-to-5

“This series was inspired by my 9-5 that I hated but felt I needed to work at because everyone around me was so insistent on success being wrapped into one pathway. I always thought to be successful as a black woman I would need to work in an office every day rather than express myself through art. Not once in my life have I ever felt that I fit in and when I worked at my 9-5, I knew more than ever I was not meant to be there. I was meant to have a camera in hand breaking stereotypes of what someone who looks like me can do. I shot this photo series with the mindset that the four walls of my 9-5 office were not all that I was destined for. In the photo series, there is a picture that shows the model on the border of the office. One foot in and one foot out. In the end, I make it out to be a creative and not confined.” - Mahayla Rheanna

Creative Direction: Mahayla Rheanna

Photography: Mahayla Rheanna

Stylist: Mahayla Rheanna

Model: Ester Aliah