When I met model Mya Seriki through the Model FB group, I knew I wanted to create more than just an editorial—I wanted to make a relic. This shoot became a meditation on ancestry, fashion, and the fragile ways Black Americans carry memory through fabric, objects, and ritual.

I have long been drawn to the tradition of African textiles. On a trip to Vietnam, I carried bolts of fabric, hoping to transform them into outfits, but one piece never made it to the tailor. Instead, it returned with me, untouched. That fabric became the backdrop for this session with Mya, turning an accident into blessing.

Editorial portrait photography in Los Angeles—Mya poses with vase and dried flowers, photographed by Ceraun the DivaNun to symbolize identity and memory.

For the first time, I built a set of my own. I steamed and hung the cloth, arranged a table and vase, and chose dried flowers to symbolize connection to the ancestors—seemingly gone, yet always present, fragile but enduring. Mya wore a green dress, its color representing fertility and life, and held a carved mask I brought back from Nairobi, Kenya.

Each detail was intentional: the fabric, the mask, the flowers. Together, they tell a story about how we reach across time through the objects we inherit, the textures we preserve, and the images we make. In these photographs, Mya embodies royalty—an echo of what has been lost, and a reminder that even fragile connections remain alive, waiting to be seen.

Powerful editorial portrait in Los Angeles—Mya strikes a fierce pose, captured by Ceraun the DivaNun as a relic of strength and emotion.

Fashion is never just clothing. It is memory, inheritance, and survival. This shoot is my offering: a reminder that though history has scattered us, the relics of who we are still gather, waiting for us to remember.

Artistic close-up portrait of Mya in front of African fabric, photographed by Ceraun the DivaNun in Los Angeles editorial style.

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I didn’t move to Los Angeles to take pretty pictures. I came here to collaborate with other artists—to turn fleeting moments into relics. In some ways, LA makes that easy. Walk outside and you’ll bump into ten artists before your morning coffee. The city hums with possibility.

But the truth is, possibility doesn’t always turn into presence. People flake. Schedules misalign. Projects dissolve into air.

That’s why I was grateful to find a makeup artist, Zaza XO Beauty, through one of those crowded Facebook groups. Finally—someone who wanted to create something layered, something conceptual. Together, with model Claire Jang, we built a visual language around emotion: joy and sorrow, laughter and grief, light and shadow.

Conceptual portrait photography of Claire Jang, using gesture and makeup to embody the pendulum of grief—between light and shadow.

Turning Grief Into a Makeup Editorial

At the time, I didn’t realize what I was channeling. I just wanted to play with the duality of emotions. But as I worked through the images, I began to recognize my own grief woven through the colors, the brushstrokes, the expressions.

Los Angeles photographer The DivaNun creates an editorial relic: grief visualized through makeup, portraiture, and collaboration with Zaza XO Beauty.

I was moving between happiness and sadness multiple times a day, like a pendulum. As a photographer, I know those states never stay invisible—they leak into the work whether I intend it or not. This shoot became a mirror. A place to honor what I was feeling without apology.

Artistic makeup editorial in Los Angeles—bold colors and emotional contrasts applied by MUA Zaza XO Beauty, visualizing the shifting emotions of grief.

The Alchemy of Makeup and Emotion

Makeup here wasn’t about beauty—it was about transformation. About turning something internal into something seen. Grief isn’t easy to talk about, but through this collaboration, it became an editorial series. The paint became ritual. The portraits, relics.

That’s the kind of photography I want to make in Los Angeles. Not just images, but artifacts. Not just collaborations, but testaments.

Credits

Makeup Artist: @zazaxobeauty
Model: Claire Jang

Ready to Collaborate?

If you’re looking for a Los Angeles portrait photographer who turns concepts into lasting relics, let’s connect.