The Spider Story
Meka
My heart breaks when I hear us speak negatively about our natural features, or complain about those “extra” pounds. Our greatest service is to nurture the community – yet, we do so much for others that we forget to take care of ourselves, and when we do think of ourselves, we say too many things about how we’re not good enough, not fortunate enough, or not attractive enough.
That self-deprecating conversation stops here.
I spent more than two decades making skin and bodies flawless for magazine spreads, eight of those years as premiere photo retoucher for Oprah and her A-list celebrity guests at the Oprah Winfrey Network and Harpo Studios, Inc. What did I learn? Natural beauty is far more appealing than a false sense of perfection.
I’ve built SMP by embracing lighting, posing, and encouragement to share the truth of how a combination of these three simple things is all that’s needed to bring out how uniquely breathtaking you are. I’m happy to breathe that truth into your Personal Branding and Portraits.
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Meka Hemmons is an internationally recognized Portrait & Branding Photographer, a Heart Surgeon using a camera as a scalpel, and an Alchemist turning power into beauty. She is a Speaker, Storyteller and Mentor based in Chicago. She helps women and entrepreneurs heal trauma around being photographed and disrupts the beauty industry with her perspective on vanity and deep-rooted messaging.
Photos of Meka by Taylor Imel & Paula Palmer
When I was very young, I sat cross-legged in the grass of my parents’ backyard and watched a tiny spider weave its web in a slab of old wood. To this day, that patient creation remains one of the most beautiful works of art I have ever seen…
Sometimes this world feels big, and I feel like the tiny spider in it. The spider has become a representation of the focus and grace that one small entity can put into creating something awesome, gratifying and functional, no matter how big its surroundings.
As an adult and a photographer, I embody the spider, making something beautiful that I hope others will pause to appreciate, like I did, many years ago.
P.S., The day I decided I would keep my SpiderMeka name, I came home to find this tiny spider weaving its web in the breeze on my balcony and ran to film it. I like to think it was a solid affirmation that I had made a good choice.