Karis Beaumont, the "image maker"

Photography by Kolade Ladipo

Karis Beaumont’s photography has graced billboards, artists’ single covers, and even Vinyl covers on a tiny desk show. Beaumont has carved a career anchored in capturing black joy, and by extension fostering that joy for the audience that interacts with her work. Beaumont takes the responsibility of capturing Black British life very seriously, especially presently, a time, “where the media paints us in an untrue manner,” she describes. 

Beaumont relies on her internal compass- creativity and spiritual energies- to make sure her work always aligns with authenticity and purity. You see this not only in the final product but in her process too; the way her subject matters alway seem to be at ease and comfortable in front of her lens is a testament to the type of photographer she is. Self proclaimed “image maker,” Karis Beaumont does more than just takes photos, allowing the mise en scene and her environment to come together and create a piece of art. 

Wray & Nephew, a brand that centres Black community and celebration is in line with Karis Beaumont’s ethos for her own work, making their collaboration for the “Reach for the Wray” campaign more than fitting. Beaumont develops a visual tapestry featuring candid moments of communal celebration; a family gathering, Black boy joy, girls GRWM (Get Ready With Me), and a romantic date.

As we sit in a small cafe with the rain pouring down I can't help but notice her glow as she reminisces on the sweet memories of her grandmother using Wray & Nephew in the kitchen. In our conversation, we chatted about the ‘Reach for the Wray’ campaign, her creative process, and her ambition in the industry.

Tell me about growing up and how Wray & Nephew was a part of your upbringing?

Wray & Nephew has always been around. I'm from Jamaica, my grandparents were born there and eventually they came over to the UK. We're very big on celebrations and getting together and one of the things that I've always seen and experienced would be my grandmothers making black cake or Jamaican rum cake. They would soak the currants and raisins with the rum for a long time. Sometimes they would soak it and freeze it. It's a whole process. The cakes would be for weddings or anniversaries or birthdays. Other times, if we were getting a cold, getting a little bit of flu, they would get some rum and rub it on your chest. Bun up the germs. There's just always a bottle in the cabinet. Whether you're a heavy drinker or not, like, there's always rum on standby, basically.

What is your creative process like, from ideation to the very end?

For my process, I might have an idea. I'll write it down and sit on it for a while so I can get more clarity on what I want to do, what I want to portray or what I want to create. But I don't really think about it too much, you know? I write it down and then I just know when I need to go and execute it. And if I pull a team together, it has to make sense, I have to align with the people I'm creating with. I think the process has to be very harmonious. I'm always open to bouncing ideas as well. And I'm very much led spiritually when I do my work. So if I've got a shoot coming up, I'm very open. Whatever the topic may be, I'll just be present in the moment and just shoot what I see and shoot what I feel. I don't know if I've got a fixed process, but my head's in it and I'm present.

Tell me a little about your experience working with the Wray & Nephew team. Was it that collaborative experience you described?

Yeah, for sure. They were very intentional on who they picked too. And we had a lot of talks in the pre-process as well. Being on set with everybody’s energy, I just had to be as present as possible. There were a lot of people in the room and a lot was happening but I was just in my zone. I just captured the vibe and the energy and that's what you saw in the campaign. 

And are there any other forms of art or inspiration you draw from in order to feel present or to help with your creative process?

I love music. Music is definitely a big one when it comes to whether I'm thinking of ideas or even when I’m editing. I see colours when I listen to music. I don't know, it just provides the background for what I'm shooting or what I'm editing. I love creative direction. I love artists who paint as well I would say. And I love cultural things as well. I like museums and looking at different lifestyles, different cultures and histories. I think history and culture do play a part. I wouldn't say that's an art, but it can be. 

Reach For The Wray campaign, photography by Karis Beaumont

When people look at your work, what do you want the takeaway to be? And how do you think this came across in the campaign?

Hmm. Oh, you've come up with good questions. I think mainly I want people to see love and care when they look at my work. And I always intend for people to feel the work as well,which is something that's hard to do. I think it evokes feelings in people, especially now that a lot of people are really desensitised and searching for things to make them feel. I just want the work to be a reflection of how I see the people I shoot or the subjects matter, you know? Even if it's something far removed from me, I always like to approach people with care. I hope people look at my work and they feel inspired or feel lifted in their spirits a little bit. Because life's chaotic.

You work alongside Shaé Universe and your work partnership is beautiful. Could you tell me a bit more about how this came to be and why? Why do you think it works so well?

I met Shaé at the end of 2017. A mutual friend of ours, shout out Narah Noire, she put on an event at uni. It was Valentine's themed, but it was a showcase. I had images exhibited, I was taking photos and Shaé headlined and performed. I think I'd seen her covers on Twitter before and I think I heard one of her songs on SoundCloud. So at the end of the event, everyone exchanged socials and we exchanged social media handles. I discovered that she lived very close to me. So that was even more reason to be like, let's just do a shoot. I remember being at work in the back room- I used to work at a Caribbean restaurant- and she sent me a voicemail saying she loved the work. And she was like I don't know what your plans are or what you're doing, but I'd love for you to be a go-to photographer for me. It's crazy, because at the time, I always envisioned working closely with an artist. I knew it would happen one day because I had a dream about it. So I agreed to do it and just see what happens. From there a friendship and a sisterhood grew. I was just winging it and growing as an artist and so was she and we just grew together. I think it worked so well because we were very patient and always encouraged each other to try new things. We get on so well outside of work, the friendship happened organically and it reflects in the work. The love and the consideration and the care, it just shows in the work. And I think even in our processes, we're both very spiritually led in what we do. We both know what our purpose is.

What would you say being able to shoot this campaign adds to your career?

I would say it allows me to showcase my work, especially the commercial side of what I do. I like many things, I'm a very complex person. This Wray & Nephew shoot was a challenge because there was a lot of planning and technicalities that went into it. But I feel really good about it because I still have my personal flair coming through. So now, people can see that I can do the commercial stuff and that’s a great feeling.. And it is on billboards everywhere. So it’s great for sure.

Photography by Kolade Ladipo

And what are some of your goals within the industry? And how do you want to further highlight the importance of family especially with ties with your Jamaican heritage?

There's a lot I want to do in the industry. I want to lead workshops, I want my own photo books, I want my own solo exhibition and my work to be in museums and you know, things like that. I want that all around the world, for sure. The main things highlighted in my work, again are love and community and whenever I think about exhibitions and workshops, I think of the activity of people coming together and that is something that I grew up with in my culture. I want to bring that forward in my culture. I want to be able to have my career and have my family around and some of my family in the pictures and in the photo books and to immortalise our community as well. So, yeah, I definitely want to do more in-person things and take a lot of my work offline so that it lives on and people have real-life experiences and relationships and connection to the work. And hopefully encourage people as well to build their communities or continue being in touch with their families. Community holds everything together. You can't do everything on your own. And if there's no community that you're connected to then who are you doing it with? Like, there's no audience. 

Your images are of predominantly Black people and global majority people. Tell me a little about this choice.

So, I gravitate more towards the global majority and the Black community because in mainstream media, we're not portrayed in a truthful, accurate way. And, I don't know, I think sometimes if you want to see change you have to be the change that you want to see. Owning such a powerful tool like a camera is a big responsibility. How can you give back or add value or contribute to the truth of how we are in different cultures, you know? We're all different. We always see how our stories are whitewashed or erased. I think it's a responsibility to really just portray joy always being true. 

We currently have quite a few other photographers, like Narcography and FilmAbdi, who also prioritise black people in their photography. Can you speak a little bit about that growth?

Yeah, it’s amazing to see. You know, one person or a handful of people can’t do everything and everybody has their own way of seeing the world and how they connect to their community. So, it's good to see the growth and it needs to continue. Everyone's doing bits in their own lanes and It's impactful. I think impact is something that's really important. And longevity. And just adding to the collective portfolio. How we stay in the industry, how we navigate, it's refreshing to see and it will encourage more people to make that move as well.

One of your notable shoots that I personally really love is one that you created for your company, Bumpkin Films. The shoot was on the misconceptions of Black Brits outside the capital. Could you please speak to the location, the styling and shoot and why you've chosen those specific choices?

I had everything curated down to a T. I wanted the location to be in the sticks, like a farm vibe. Everybody I casted was from outside of London. The set designer, the stylist, the make-up artist, the models, everything wrapped around that. I collaborated with another platform called the BLK Brit, who are London based. I did that intentionally just to open up the audience to the dialogue and the subject at hand. I wanted to create an upside down world. You know there are certain misconceptions about people outside of London but I wanted to play into them, so one of them was like a Victorian style tea party but there was plantain chips and Supermalt on the table. Jahmel, one of the models, had the horse beside him giving a farmer vibe. And it was really fun, I'm really happy I did it and invested in it. Everybody involved in that shoot is doing amazing things as well and I just wanted to carefully curate and cast people with that in mind, because since then, some of the work has been on Billboards. People still mention that shoot until today, and that was done in 2021. Who knows what else will come? It's super important that having those kinds of shoots to really represent other “forgotten people,” or “forgotten communities.” I think even in this day and age, you're already seeing the erasure of Black Britishness. That’s why the 500 years of Black British music exhibition at the British Museum is amazing because you're seeing all these archived moments and how rich the culture and history is because it's easy to forget, you know.