Simone Severo translates the “light” stuff for skin tones that are usually photographed as too bright or too dark. In her 15 years as a dark skin photographer, she has captured the images of Asian, African American, Native American, Kenyan, Vietnamese, and other dark skin nationalities.
Severo, fell into dark skin work after clients complained of pigment dissatisfaction. Out of curiosity, she asked her African American friend, “’How do you select a photographer?’ He told me he googled ‘photographers who specialized in dark skin.’” Severo’s ability to capture someone’s exact skin shade goes back to her first teacher—Vogue magazine.
Lover of Lighting
Growing up in Porte Alegre, Brazil, Severo’s aunt brought the magazine to her home. Interestingly, she would study the light. “The eyes are reflective, so I would deconstruct the pictures to see where the light came from. Some light is harsh. Some light is romantic. Soft light fills in your pores and makes the skin more appealing. For example, if a person takes a picture of themselves at their desk, they don’t have a good light source. But if the picture is taken in front of the window, the light is more pleasing.”
Regardless of skin tone, Severo says, “run from the sun. The sun is not your friend. It creates harsh lighting around you and produces shadows. This makes you look older, and you’ll look like you have raccoon eyes. The best time to shoot a picture is on a cloudy day.”
Knowing (as a photographer) she cannot overpower the sun, she had dark-skinned clients come to her studio because “I’m in control of my light.” Providing a beautiful picture for her clients is what she wanted to develop for herself in America.
Severo’s Story
Severo grew up in a dictatorship in Brazil. “I didn’t have a voice when I lived there because I grew up in fear of dictators. I always wanted to come to America because we are free to express ourselves. Brazil wrote a constitution in 1988 and it has been a democracy since then. But it is still a chaotic country, especially politically. Even now, it still feels like a dictatorship.”
Severo’s history with photography began with her grandfather at three years old. Her grandfather took pictures of people and stored them in a box, and Severo would ask him, “Who those people were. My grandpa would tell me about the people. Afterward, I told him I’d be a photographer someday.”
Since everything was imported to Brazil, being a photographer was expensive. So, Severo taught herself. She started with a film camera, and she kept Vogue by her side. Because of Vogue, she developed her beauty aesthetics and learned what people liked. “I ripped out the pages in Vogue. I showed the pages to people, so I know what’s beautiful to them. Which made my visual work better.”
Loving photography, she told her family, that she was going to be a photographer in America. “When I said this, my family of five, lived in a 300-square-feet place. My father was unemployed at the time, and my parents barely finished high school.”
Severo had no schooling in photography, but she graduated as a translator and finished an MBA in business. Focusing on calling the red, white and blue her homeland, in June 2002, at age 32, Severo settled in Colorado Springs for love, which led to marriage. Now she is a certified photographer with 25 years of experience.
Brazilian Ambition
However, she sees herself doing a few more things, such as an advocate for dark skin photography. “When people see my work they go, ‘Wow!‘ I don’t think people are used to seeing good pictures of (every day) dark-skinned people. I want to teach this area of photography.”
Because of her African American friend, who googled specialized photographers for dark skin, Severo has placed “Dark Skin” under the category of “Portfolio.”
However, there are two actors Severo would love to include in her dark skin work. “Actress Lupita Nyong’o. I love her dark-skin, and her bright smile. She’s also very graceful. Also, actor Morgan Freeman, because he’s an interesting person and I watched a lot of his movies.”
Severo wants to end her career where American singer/actress Madonna, taught this style of dance, on the dance floor—Vogue.
