For HBCU grads, elaborate fashions and photoshoots are par for the culture From a python to sneakers, today’s graduation pictures are capturing style, personality and dollars

For many college seniors, the last few months leading up to graduation are full of stress and anxiety. There are finals and job interviews. But for seniors at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), it’s also about preparing for your graduation shoot.

For some HBCU students, the process of documenting graduation has long surpassed the tradition of just taking the standard studio picture with a bookshelf in the background with a degree in hand. HBCU students are spending countless hours and thousands of dollars to memorialize their big day. HBCUs have set the bar for various trends in pop culture, including on the fashion and glamour stage. So, it should come as no surprise that graduation shoots have followed suit. From the Rattlers at Florida A&M University (FAMU) to the Aggies at North Carolina A&T to the Tigers at Tennessee State, HBCU graduation shoots are big business and often go viral for every graduation season.

“I feel like the HBCU fashions and graduation photo shoot culture is huge,” said East Dockery, a graduating multimedia journalism senior at North Carolina A&T University and former Andscape Rhoden Fellow. “Even now with all of the videos, graduation itself is huge but especially because our schools hold so much history and its only right to celebrate ourselves. Plus, what we have achieved at these institutions that were built because others would not allow us at one point in time to attend.”

In addition to her photoshoot, Dockery also created a video montage, highlighting her most memorable achievements and experiences leading up to graduation.

“My video truly solidified that N.C. A&T has always been my destiny,” Dockery said. “I am honored to be able to share that story.”

Taking It To The Next Level

For decades, Florida A&M University has been at the forefront of putting the “Extra” in extravagant HBCU graduation shoots. Between the hair, makeup, multiple wardrobe and location changes, planning a shoot can take months of concept-creating and thousands of dollars to make it all come together.

Kendall Simmonds, who graduated from FAMU on April 30 with a B.S. in Pre- Physical Therapy, booked her graduation photographers in June 2021 and began planning the details for her shoot two months later. For one of her looks, she wore a pair of $1,200 Rick Owens sneakers. However, the shoot’s real showstopper was the 9-foot albino ball python that she wore to accessorize her rustic orange floor length gown. Channeling her FAMU Rattlers pride, Simmonds took to Twitter and asked if anyone had a snake that she could borrow for her shoot. One of her followers responded and said his roommate had a pet python. She later got in contact with the owner and was able to use the snake free of charge.

“I wanted something that was going to make me stand out and of course my snake would make anyone stop scrolling,” Simmonds said. “I do actually have a fear of snakes, but we took the pictures quickly before I allowed my fear to sit in.”

In all, Simmonds’ photo shoot included shots in the studio and at three different locations on campus. However, she was not the only FAMU Rattler who took their photoshoot to the next level. Maya Porter, who graduated in December 2021with a B.S. in Public Relations decided that she wanted to recreate the Nightmare Vacation album cover for rap artist Rico Nasty.

“I was kind of late with planning my shoot and booking my photographer,” said Porter. “I waited until like two weeks before graduation to get everything done, so I was beyond stressed. I chose mimic the Rico Nasty album because it was released [in 2020] during a period of rebirth for me. Being a first-generation graduate and doing it at an HBCU was such a scary, but life-changing experience and Rico’s music and creativity with her album covers felt perfect for me to use as my inspiration.”

Porter’s childhood friend, 2021 FAMU business administration graduate Ryanne Taylor, is the CEO and executive producer of Gradzillas, a popular YouTube show that captures behind-the-scenes moments of graduates as they prepare for their photoshoots. Taylor was inspired to start filming behind-the-scenes shots of graduation shoots by a close friend’s mini-meltdown during one of her shoots.

“Not everyone gets to see that side of it,” Taylor said. “Just to see how everyone’s personality really comes out and sometimes changes when it’s ‘go’ time. You see everyone smiling, and happy in their photos, but that’s not always the case during filming.”

Porter, who is the head marketing and social media manager of the show, added, “Gradzilla is a great idea to capture the stress that students put on themselves for their shoots. For mine, I tried so hard not to be a Gradzilla but I was definitely stressed.” (THE GRADZILLA video below is experiencing technical difficulties. I alerted Maya Porter, and the staff is working to fix it.)

Chazriq “Chaz” Clarke, who recently graduated from FAMU with a double degree in Theatre Performing Arts and Business Administration, is featured in the most recent episode of Gradzilla. In all, Clarke had 10 photoshoots ($1,500) and wore 10 different suits ($200 each). In one look, Clarke is seen in a grey suit and carrying a metal briefcase, while shooting hundreds of fake bills from a gun machine.

“I had so many different looks,” Clarke said. “I wanted to sum up my four years at FAMU in 10 pictures. So I gave a little bit of everything. I’m all about business and making money. In July, I’ll be starting a job at Capitol One in their Management Rotational Program, so I wanted to do a look dedicated to that.”

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic took in-person graduation ceremonies away from millions of graduates, leaving pictures as one of the only ways to commemorate their joyous accomplishment. For Passhur Quarles, who is a first-generation college graduate and who earned a B.S. degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, it was his love of sneakers that fueled his graduation shoot and helped ease his mind about not being able to walk across the stage.

Sneakers have been a part of Quarles’ life since his first day of elementary school. He explained that as a “sneakerhead,” the first thing he looks at is what shoes someone has on. He currently has over 100 pairs of sneakers, valued at over $30,000.

“My father spent time in jail so I didn’t have any father figures around other than my uncles.” Quarles said. “They all had the newest and flyest sneakers and I wanted to be just like them. My grandmother is also well connected at all the local sneaker stores. Sometimes, she would even go out and camp in front of stores before they would open to ensure I got my pair. So for my shoot, I wanted to honor all of that.”

In his picture, Quarles is holding six of his favorite pairs of shoes from his collection, valued at $5,400. When he first posted the picture, he only had 400 followers on Twitter. After, he gained over 1,000 new followers. He explained he could not use his phone for a few days because it continued to freeze from Twitter notifications, calls and texts from family and friends. The post received 3,142 retweets and 34,567 likes.

Derrick Young, who recently graduated from Howard University with a B.S. in Political Science, wanted to use his graduation shoot as an opportunity to show how he is still fulfilling his grandfather’s legacy. In his will, he requested that each of his grandsons, who were his pride and joy, have custom suits made. In one of Young’s graduation looks, he is wearing a $1,200 custom hand-made, three-piece suit and his grandfather’s boots from 1963.

“The suit is very close to my heart,” Young said. “Instead of wearing a regular suit, I knew I wanted to take it up a notch and get a three-piece suit. The stole that I have is red mixed with magenta and the lining of my suit is the same color.”

The graduates behind these intricate ideas put their trust in their photographers and videographers to make their visions come to light. Young’s photographer, Malachi Somerville, CEO of Visualized by Mal and senior film student at Howard, is one of the most popular photographers for northern HBCUs.

During his time at FAMU, Somerville says did not take any graduation pictures. Instead, he wanted to observe graduation season and shadowed many photographers as they worked with their graduating clients.

“I think the reason why HBCU graduation pictures are executed so well is because they are often taking by other students or HBCU alumni,” Somerville said. “It is easy to help someone execute if you’re living in the same vision or have been there and done that. It makes me happy to see that students trust their fellow peers to bring everything together.”

Because of Somerville’s success during graduation season, he has been able to fulfill one of his wildest dreams, buying a studio in Philadelphia, PA.

“I know if I can not do anything else, I know how to make Black beauty look good,” Somerville said.

Another popular HBCU photographer is the mastermind behind the company Ttsenre, Ernest Pierre. Pierre graduated from FAMU in 2018 with a degree in criminal justice. His graduation portraits have gained millions of social media retweets and likes. Other photographers even admit that most of their clients bring Pierre’s pictures to them as a way to begin to generate a concept.

Pierre first picked up a camera in middle school, but did not begin taking photography seriously until 2018. From 2018-2020, he began shooting birthdays and maternity announcements. Then in 2020, he started getting inquiries about graduation pictures. In just under two years, he has become one of the most popular HBCU graduation photographers, and books over 100 clients each season. Before his shoots, Pierre asks his clients to make mood boards to help communicate their concepts and ideas. Many of his clients also hire a creative director during the developmental stages of their shoot.

“Being able to not have to work for anyone is a feeling that I can’t replace,” Pierre said. “Instead of being down about having to go to work, I get to create memories with others. I never expected any of this. I am sometimes in disbelief at the number of people who trust me with this large milestone.”

All across the HBCU Grads spectrum, students are trending for their creativity withe their graduation shoots Here are a few other looks and ideas that caught our eye this season, including Alabama State’s Darreon Miller, who remade rapper Future’s I Never Liked You album cover, and some behind the scenes shots of author Alexis Davis.

Mallory Moore – Tennessee State

Ilyria Johns – Florida A&M

Alexis Davis – North Carolina A&T

Zemry Ivory – Grambling State

Darreon Miller – Alabama A&M

Nijel Hawley-Newkirk – North Carolina Central

Justin Longstreet – Clark Atlanta