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Prologue: The Music
It started as a jazz song.
// Almost 30 years in the making.
I was born into a family of music.
My mother was in all of her high school musical productions.
My father was a DJ.
My siblings were all created by mother as a musical masterpiece. There was Tony (Tone), Tia (Ti) Stephon, (Step) and Jasemine.. Guess what I'm named after?
Jazz was one of my first tastes of real music that 'hit different.' It's a genre of music that has both elements of class and chaos blended into one.. When I first heard it, it became something I heard all the time.. No matter what I was listening to. It was in hip hop, in rock and roll, in a train ride.. In life. I knew that somehow, some sort of way, I was destined to live up to that name.. that feeling.. that element.. even if I couldn't play a single instrument other than my voice.
(Fun Fact: I was a professional karaoke host at a children's arcade before I quit to pursue my dream of being a photographer.)
By the time I graduated high school, I was a published author who craved the ability to tell stories forever. I loved being able to grip a friend by the shoulder and see the look of pure excitement (Or terror) unfold on their face as they anticipated what came after the twist. Yet, something was missing. Like music, I craved a canvas.. something to build on..
When I finally got my first taste of shooting the craziest parties, the most rambunctious kids, and the wildest souls.. I knew my moment had came.
The element of fulfillment I'd been lacking since my youth had finally manifested…
I'd found my medium, my spotlight, my performance stage.
For years, Jasemine Denise Photography was the underdog. Shooting and darting in motions just trying to define a genre to call home until eventually there was no genre. Stripped like your favorite acoustic, the right crowd to play for just became natural. It's like the song you fell in love with.. that one that makes you dance, that made you get the band merch after the show, the one that put you on that tour..
The best moments of my life were spent delivering that experience.
Each session becomes its own soundtrack. For some, it's the echo of “Yassss!” Over the sound of you charging through your confidence journey. For others, it's taking your hand at your wedding and dancing that one last dance at your reception before I announce to your family that I'm proud to be one of your very own. Sometimes, it's me sitting and flicking through your photos with you, the playlist going, tailored just for your photoshoot..
No matter what the session is, it's not just a photoshoot… it's an experience.
