Senior multimedia journalism student, Asha Taitt, is committed to becoming a renowned camera mastermind that’ll be on every art lover’s radar. 

Since her freshman year, the soon-to-be Aggie alumna has been producing photoshoots that express nuanced Black experiences, but now she’s transitioning into film. 

Although Taitt has established herself as one of A&T’s most compelling photographers, her passion for photography sparked back in her sophomore year of high school when she took her first introductory-level photography class. 

Her love for the camera and what it can do was somewhat of a slow burn because she was initially bored by the beginner-level tasks of Photo 1. 

“That one [Photo 1] was kind of boring to me because we just took pictures of things like flowers, and things outside,” Taitt said. 

It wasn’t until Taitt advanced to Photo 2 in her junior year and was allowed to create her portfolio, that her lukewarm enjoyment of photography became an insatiable yearning to be behind the camera. 

Individuals around Taitt, especially her Photo 2 instructor, Lilian Chun, noticed her raw potential and encouraged her to enter her work in competitions, thus allowing her to get inspired by different aspects of photography. 

While Taitt was receiving good feedback from competition judges, as they often noted that her work was extremely introspective and thought-provoking ,she still hadn’t found a photographic style that spoke to who she was. 

This was generally because the young artist chose to stray away from illustrating Black stories. After all, she didn’t want to do what was expected of her. 

“For the longest time, I tried to stray away from Black stories. That sounds really anti-Black although I consider myself pro-Black, but I don’t like to be predictable,” Taitt shared. 

However, in 2022, following the curation of her photoshoot titled, “Baby Boy,” Taitt had a path-altering change of heart.

The “Baby Boy” shoot was inspired by the tragic murder of Taitt’s older cousin, who like many young Black men, was not afforded the opportunity to grow old. 

The shoot was extremely intimate for Taitt and she realized that her personal experiences brought a different kind of authenticity to her work that others could relate to. 

“That was the first photo shoot on campus that let people know that I’m not an editorial photographer, I’m more of a cinematic storytelling type of photographer, “ Taitt said. 

Junior psychology major and fellow A&T photographer, Destiny Edens, attests to the relatability of Taitt’s work as someone in the same artistic field. 

“Unfortunately, it was something I could relate to. You go from becoming excited, to saddened from the harsh reality the piece exposes,” said Edens in regards to Taitt’s Baby boy shoot. 

To continue on her journey of illustrating relatable, yet overlooked Black narratives, Taitt did a shoot titled “Androgynous,” which was inspired by her experience of often being misunderstood because of her fluid choices of gender-typical presentation. 

Since Taitt has explored her gift for expressing her and her loved ones’ experiences as African Americans through still images, she’s kicking things up and taking her talents to the big screen. 

The young creative says that she’s always been very interested in film but she didn’t consider the possibilities of becoming a filmmaker until judges at the 2019 NAACP ACT-SO competition described her work as cinematic. 

“My photoshoots always have a beginning, middle and end, so if that’s how they feel about my photos, why wouldn’t I do film?” Taitt explained. 

Now, years later, Taitt is producing a psychological thriller for the American Black Film Festival, that tells the story of Garrie; a Black, female, 1970s talk show host who gives women advice on enduring abuse within their romantic relationships. 

The film is loosely based on Taitt’s grandmother and great-aunts who lived in New York in the 1970s, and unfortunately, all suffered from some form of domestic abuse. 

The upcoming film, set to debut in March, really explores the dynamics between Black men and women of the time and begs the question of whether or not many of their relationships were truly filled with love. 

Through this latest venture, Taitt continued to show that she is an artistic force and plans to continue to take the photography and filmmaking industry by storm