Tomayia Colvin Education (TCE), an online education platform for photographers that features Black speakers and speakers of color and celebrates diversity, hosted its second The Photo Cookout photography conference in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 6-8, 2019. More than 225 photographers from all backgrounds, from all over the United States, gathered in New Orleans to learn technical and business skills and to network with like-minded creatives sponsored by Sony. The full video recap by Smitha Lee showcases the love and community that attendees felt for three days while attending the conference.

The event held in New Orleans at the Ace Hotel featured a lineup of all-Black presenters, each professional photographers acclaimed in their fields. But more than just a photography conference, the Photo Cookout is like a family reunion of cousins. Attendees enjoyed a welcome cookout & meet-and-greet in City Park, followed immediately hands-on demonstrations and courses to up their photography skills.

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On Monday & Tuesday, attendees gathered at the Ace Hotel, to hear keynote and breakout speakers cover topics ranging from professional lighting, posing, commercial photography, bookkeeping and sales, marketing, and more. Conference attendees were able to apply what they’ve learned throughout each day to dedicated photography walks and styled photoshoots each afternoon, led by industry leaders. Also, photography software vendors demonstrated software solutions for editing, bookkeeping, album prints, and more during the conference’s on-site expo.

Tomayia Colvin, Founder and Doctoral Candidate studying Executive Leadership with a research interest in Black Women Photographers said, “Creating The Photo Cookout was everything I knew our community needed.”

Speaker Ramonica Plishett shared, “The community and the event are simply amazing! There is no other photography conference that allows you up close and personal access to speakers. They genuinely want to help you grow!”

Attendee Tina Stickland echoed Plishett’s sentiments and stated, “The Photo Cookout places a high value on inclusion, excellence, and support.”

“Opportunities for minority speakers to speak at large conferences and black photographers to network don’t come every day,” says Colvin. After years of attending conferences where the sessions were often lacking even a single panelist of color or were missing voices from marginalized communities, Colvin created the online teaching platform, with an accompanying Facebook community for open discussion; the Photo Cookout was a natural expansion of those efforts, providing a rare opportunity to share knowledge one-on-one. She hopes to give speakers of color an opportunity to teach and empower their community.