*This story is brought to you by Most Incredible Studio founder Syreeta Gates as a part of our Because Of You: Legacy in Focus campaign honoring contemporary Black photographers*
Her impact extends beyond the lens!
A photograph is more than an image. It is memory, proof, testimony, and love. It is a way to say, I see you. You were here. You mattered. Jamaica Gilmer moves with that knowledge in every frame she captures.
She doesn’t just document moments—she creates spaces of belonging. As the founder of The Beautiful Project, Gilmer has spent nearly two decades using photography to galvanize Black women and girls, helping them declare their hopes, claim their space, and see themselves with the honor they deserve.
“I want them to see, feel, and remember that I saw Black people at the fullest of who they are,” she says. “With me, for that moment in time, there was very deep acceptance and belonging.”
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Gilmer’s introduction to photography was personal before it was professional. Her father, the family’s self-proclaimed “paparazzi,” filled their home with images of Black love, Black beauty, and Black life. Those images became her foundation. Before she knew the names of legendary photographers like Carrie Mae Weems and James Van Der Zee, she was already living in an archive, absorbing the weight of representation.
That deep connection to legacy informs her work. Every image is an offering—a way to honor the people she photographs and the stories they carry. She approaches photography as an act of care, a way to reflect the joy, dignity, and depth of everyday Black life.
Gilmer’s work is not about capturing perfection. It is about truth, wholeness, and the full spectrum of Black existence. She doesn’t impose a narrative—she meets her subjects where they are, allowing them to define their own presence.
“I love to roll up on Black people and woo them to their joy,” she says. “I want to tell the stories of who we are every day, in all of our stunning brilliance.”
For her, Blackness is inherently revolutionary—not just in moments of protest, but in the mundane, the quiet, the personal. She photographs laughter, deep thought, rest, and resilience. She captures the beauty of Black people simply being.
Gilmer believes in play—not just as recreation but as a vital tool for creativity, healing, and cultural preservation. That’s why the Because of You: Legacy in Focus LEGO set collection resonates so deeply with her.
“Play is a lifeline for me,” she says. “Doing something tactile helps me process, get present, and feel things fully.”
She has seen the power of play firsthand with her children—how it sparks curiosity, invites questions, and strengthens their connection to their own creativity. Through play, they begin to see themselves as curators, storytellers, and artists.
A century from now, Gilmer’s work will still speak. Her images will tell the world that Black life was always worthy, always beautiful, always enough.
She doesn’t just capture faces. She captures belonging—the quiet, undeniable truth that we are here, and we matter.
Cover photo: Meet Jamaica Gilmer, the Visionary Using Photography to Galvanize Black Women and Girls/Photo credit: Winnie Okwakol/Jamaica Gilmer/Instagram