Photography by Tafari is a Detroit, MI based professional photographer brand offering a range of portrait, event, lifestyle, drone, and wedding photography services.
Specializing in highlighting African American / Black Life.
Tafari, is a Detroit African American photographer / Black photographer with over 15 years of professional photography experience.
I recently had the honor of partnering with Dr. Verhsa Pleasant and the University of Michigan on a deeply meaningful project: photographing a group of dynamic women who are all breast cancer survivors.
Dr. Pleasant led the vision for this powerful initiative, and each woman courageously shared her journey—stories of diagnosis, treatment, hair loss, recovery, and ultimately, triumph. Their voices shaped the spirit of the project, and their presence filled the space with undeniable strength and grace.
While I’ve had the privilege of working with breast cancer survivors before, this experience was uniquely profound. There was so much power in one room, on one day. During the photo session, a wave of emotions washed over us—laughter, fear, tears, and joy. Amid it all, we captured images that reflect not only their resilience but their brilliance.
I’m beyond grateful to my team for helping bring this vision to life. Olivia and Lauren—thank you for your unwavering support and talent. This project was truly a labor of love, and I’m proud to have played a role in sharing these remarkable stories.
Crown is a word that holds great meaning, particularly in Black culture, where many have adopted the word to pay homage to their hair. Throughout history, Black women have regarded their hair as a form of personal identity, cultural pride, political protest, and cultural awareness. When Black breast cancer survivors experience hair loss from cancer treatment, they must redefine their crown.
As a cancer genetics and breast health specialist, my career involves caring for those who are at high risk for breast cancer or who have had a diagnosis of breast cancer. I talk to patients extensively about surgery, genetic testing, and medical therapies. However, the tentacles of cancer reach much further. They touch the way one looks, the way one feels about themselves, and the way one gets to present themselves to the world.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among people assigned female at birth in the U.S., and it disproportionately impacts Black communities. Although just as likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, Black people have a 40% increased risk of dying from it compared to white people.
While chemotherapy-induced hair loss impacts all communities, Black people may be more likely to undergo chemotherapy due to more aggressive cancer subtypes (like triple-negative breast cancer) and have fewer options for resulting hair loss. Coldcapping, a technique developed to reduce hair loss in those undergoing chemotherapy by freezing hair follicles, has not demonstrated similar efficacy among Black patients compared to white. Although more recent strides have been made in creating wigs that more closely reflect Black hair texture, wigs have historically been designed to closely mimic the texture of white people’s hair, the discordance of which could make a cancer diagnosis in a Black person more apparent. Furthermore, the sociocultural impact of chemotherapy- induced hair loss has been largely understudied in Black communities, in which hair holds such profound significance.
I’ve had the privilege of interviewing the six Black breast cancer survivors featured in this photo essay. Some are Michigan Medicine patients, and some were cared for elsewhere. They talked with me about their cancer journeys through the lens of hair loss. With Black people dying at an alarming rate from breast cancer, it’s time for the medical community to take action, and that begins by listening with radical empathy to those most affected.
These survivors have redefined their own crowns. More profound than the new hairstyles they don after hair loss are the invisible crowns that they choose to wear each day: gratitude, faith, and resilience. It is my hope that their stories will empower us to act.”
Visit this link to see how the group of six-brave women chose to tell their stories.
Each year, the University of Michigan Women’s and Gender Studies Department and Institute for Research on Women and Gender host two exhibits in Lane Hall. Until Aug. 8, the exhibit space features “Redefining the Crown,” a portraiture series displaying six Black breast cancer survivors and their journeys with chemotherapy-induced hair loss.
The exhibit, which opened Jan. 21, is based on a photo essay by Versha Pleasant, Michigan Medicine clinical assistant professor, and Ava Purkiss, associate professor of women’s and gender studies. The photo story explores the emotional experiences and unique stories of Black women suffering from breast cancer. The project’s goal is to uplift survivors and their stories while drawing attention to the lack of research surrounding the sociocultural impact of chemotherapy-induced hair loss on Black communities.
The collection of these photos have been on display at the University of Michigan Biomedical Science Research Building & IRWG, the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at Lane Hall
In the essay, Pleasant highlights the high mortality rate in specifically Black breast cancer patients. “Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among people assigned female at birth in the U.S.,” Pleasant wrote. “It disproportionately impacts Black communities. Although just as likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, Black people have a 40% increased risk of dying from it compared to white people.”
In an interview with The Daily, Tafari Stevenson-Howard, the show’s featured photographer, said he hopes the exhibit helps viewers rethink their understanding of breast cancer as something characterized by pink-branded marketing campaigns and instead focus on what it means to be a survivor.
“Because of the commodification of it, I believe we just see breast cancer (and) we see pink,” Stevenson-Howard said. “We don’t see a lot of stories. We don’t see the humanness of it, until people start telling their stories.”
In his photography process, Stevenson-Howard said he used music as a way to make his subjects more comfortable.
“Every time someone came in front of the camera, we put on their favorite music,” Stevenson-Howard said. “So we were, in a lot of cases, dancing and jamming. We had some reflective moments during all of this. It was very, very beautiful, very, very human and very eye opening.”
Stevenson-Howard said compassion was important to him when photographing survivors for the exhibition.
“It was really about showcasing life,” Stevenson-Howard said. “One of the questions I asked the women was, ‘Who do you want people to see when they look at this picture?’ A lot of them said they’re going to see ‘I’m a fighter, I am a survivor, I am still here and I have a story.’”
