Teia Carlton

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPH:

“What brings me light is my mother. I have quite a few pictures of her in my phone. She died July 16 2016. She brought a lot of light to my life because when I was in foster care, she was the person who received me and basically brought me into her home showing me a lot of love. She raised me to be the woman that I am today. It's a collage. One part is with my brother and her when we were younger. We went to a family reunion. She was always the one who coordinated everything. The second picture is her when she was younger, and she'd do the honeycomb style that she had. She had her own business in Akron, Ohio. She was a cosmetologist for 33 years of her life. She was a high school graduate, she also graduated college. This third picture is her in the green. She basically was a person who liked to be eccentric with her dressing, going to church, everything had to match—shoes, dress, accessories, her hair. I loved her hair, because it was always silver. She accepted me for who I was, you know. When I came out to her, she was very accepting of my lifestyle. And she just told me to live my life the way that I wanted to, to the fullest, and don't have any kind of regrets. She was my prayer warrior. She was my best friend,. She was just a great inspiration to me.”