Journal / Saint Kitts / Black History Month

Home, family and Carnival photography in Saint Kitts

My first return since childhood, told through sunrise, the streets, photographs of my grandad and a fifteen minute portrait shoot before Carnival.

Project: A return to Saint Kitts
Category: Photo story
Location: Saint Kitts
My role: Photographer
Date: January 2026

Ashley Everett, Nikeva Marie and Iantha Richardson standing together before Carnival in Saint Kitts

01 / Why I am sharing this now

A fuller story about coming home.

I first published this story during Black History Month because the photographs sit close to home for me. Saint Kitts is my home island. The pictures move through family, place, Caribbean culture and the three Black women at the centre of the Carnival portraits.

I had originally shown the shoot with Ashley Everett, Nikeva Marie and Iantha Richardson. That was one part of the trip. The wider album also holds photographs of my grandad, the streets, the sea and the early light across the island. I wanted all of that to live together here.

02 / Returning to Saint Kitts

I had not been back since I was about seven.

I was 29 when I returned to Saint Kitts. It was my first Carnival on the island as an adult, and I wanted to document the people and the place in my own way.

On New Year's Day I was having breakfast with my mum at Coconut Grove on Zenway Boulevard. I recognised Ashley from Ultra's posts the night before, introduced myself and offered to take portraits of her, Kev and Iantha before the Grand Parade.

Ashley followed me before I left the restaurant. While I was walking back to the hotel with my mum, she sent a message asking whether I could meet them near their hotel within the hour. That was how the shoot began.

Ashley Everett wearing orange sunglasses in a portrait made before Ultra Carnival in Saint Kitts — Ashley Everett, photographed before the Sugar Mas 54 Grand Parade.

03 / Fifteen minutes

The setting gave the portraits their shape.

We had around fifteen minutes. The green grass, mountains and palms gave me a natural setting for the colour and detail in their Carnival looks. My aim was to give the outfits an editorial treatment while keeping the energy of the day in the photographs.

I directed some poses and asked them to look into the camera, then gave each of them space to express herself. The group portrait was about confidence, empowerment and unity. I wanted the three of them to feel strong together in one frame.

Three independent Black women, together in one frame.

Ashley Everett raising both arms in front of the green Saint Kitts hillside before Carnival — Fifteen minutes was enough to move between directed portraits and natural expression.

Close portrait with a hand raised to the forehead before Carnival in Saint Kitts — A close portrait held against the green of the hillside.

Woman adjusting green sunglasses in a portrait before Ultra Carnival in Saint Kitts — Colour, detail and direct eye contact before the parade.

04 / The island around us

I kept photographing the place itself.

The wider set begins before the day properly starts. There is the sea at sunrise, palms moving across white roofs, light on the water and the view from the shoreline. Later photographs hold the road, a bedroom, an old yellow container being taken back by the plants and the colours of the houses.

These are the pictures that locate the portraits. They show the island around the people and the small details I wanted to keep from returning home.

Waves reaching the shore beneath a pink Saint Kitts sunrise — Sunrise at the shoreline.

The sun rising over the sea beside a dark Saint Kitts hillside — Early light over the sea.

View across rocks and the sea from the Saint Kitts shoreline — Sitting at the water before the island was fully awake.

Palm trees moving in front of white houses at dawn in Saint Kitts — Palms, rooftops and the last colour in the sky.

Sunrise reflected in wet sand as a wave reaches the Saint Kitts shore — Light held in the waterline.

Morning light falling across a bedroom in Saint Kitts — Light moving through a bedroom.

An old yellow container surrounded by tall grass and vines in Saint Kitts — The landscape growing around what had been left behind.

A Saint Kitts street with roadside stalls and a car beneath an evening sky — The road as the light changed.

Sunlight breaking through clouds above the sea in Saint Kitts — Clouds opening above the sea.

05 / My grandad

The photographs I most wanted to bring into the story.

The portraits of my grandad are as important to this album as the Carnival pictures. I photographed him at home, first within the house and then closer. I made a wider portrait, a close frame of his face and a detail of his hands resting on the red book he was holding.

Putting these photographs beside the island and the Carnival portraits makes the return feel complete. This is a record of the people I met, the family I came back to and the places that stayed with me.

Demonét's grandad standing in the doorway of a green and peach house in Saint Kitts — My grandad at home in Saint Kitts.

Demonét's grandad seated outside his home in a blue patterned shirt — A wider portrait on the veranda.

Close portrait of Demonét's grandad wearing a dark cap and blue patterned shirt — A close portrait.

Demonét's grandad's hands resting on a worn red book — His hands resting on the book he was holding.

06 / The response

What happened when we shared the Carnival portraits.

The portrait series travelled well beyond my audience.

I delivered the photographs through Google Drive. Ashley messaged the following morning to say how much she liked them. I then built an Instagram carousel and invited Ashley, Kev and Iantha to join it as collaborators. All three accepted.

The collaboration post was published on 3 January 2026. By 16 September, it had received the following response:

83,959: views
96.5%: views from people who did not follow me
2,304: likes
89: saves
61: comments
118: profile visits

The response showed me how far a personal portrait series can travel when the people, place and timing come together. The larger album reminds me why I made the work in the first place. I returned home, stayed open to what was around me and photographed the trip as it unfolded.

I want to make more portraits that feel confident, personal and rooted in place. If you are planning an editorial portrait, campaign or cultural event, I would like to hear what you are making.

View the Carnival portrait series View the original Instagram post Discuss a portrait shoot Return to the Journal