Here's What Happens When Teen Photographers Team Up With WNBA Stars

By Emma Sarran Webster


Any time 17-year-old Denise Hewitt set out on a walking field trip to explore her neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn, with her high school classmates, she had no idea she’d stumble upon a program that would set her career in motion.


The class visited Red Hook Labs, a photography studio, gallery, production corporation, and school — all serious about fostering creative talent and companies in underrepresented communities. Denise was excited to find somewhere to explore her growing photography interest, and she soon became a student with the Red Hook Labs Education and Jobs Initiative. Then, in 2018, she was selected to shoot a lookbook for the iconic department store, Barneys New York. She followed up that gig by turning her lens on three WNBA players — New York Liberty’s Kia Nurse, and Connecticut Sun’s Courtney Williams and Jonquel Jones.


Denise was one of five teenage Red Hook Labs students who photographed 10 WNBA athletes for a new series debuting September 30. The photographers came up with the specific visions for their shoots and brought them to life with support from other photographers, professional stylists, as well as a production crew. It was a big undertaking, although far because the athletes are concerned, the students brought their A-games.


“When the photographer who shot me explained later what she was thinking of as a concept and how her set looked the way it did, I loved it,” Dallas Wings’ Arike Ogunbowale — who was photographed by 19-year-old Kaylee Ramirez — tells MTV News. “She was taking classical paintings that typically have white subjects and putting black ladies in that setting, which I thought was a very sophisticated idea... And very impressive.”


Jones was identically impressed by Denise’s vision and prowess on set — enough to sell her on being a repeat customer, if ever given the possibility. Assignments like this, she tells MTV News, also “help to get the younger generation coming up into the WNBA. It gives them the chance to be creative and just sort of show their talents as well.”


Although the photo subjects aren’t the only ones feeling good right following the shoots. In phone interviews with MTV News, Denise, Ramirez, and 21-year-old Genesis Gil (who photographed Chicago Sky’s Cheyenne Parker and Kahleah Copper), shared what this program and project means to them, what it seemed like on set, and their suggestions for fellow young artists.


MTV News: Why are education programs critical for young artists like yourself? 


Denise Hewitt: I think it’s essential, especially in Red Hook because there’s a lack of possibilities and expertise once it comes to getting into the industry at all. And I think what turns people off to becoming fine arts students or exploring their craft is they know that [they’re] not guaranteed to really make it in that industry. And even for kids in low-income areas and spaces that New York State just sort of glosses over or doesn’t really give attention to or give as much attention to, it’s really critical for those kids to know that you do have those outlets and [you can do] what you wish to do in the fine arts realm — whether you hope to pursue music, you desire to pursue style, [or] you hope to begin your own company. I think they require those examples and so they require those people.


Kaylee Ramirez: A lot of people — especially young kids of color — don’t really visualize creative fields as an alternative. Most of the time, we are [told] that those aren’t good careers to go into and that we should concentrate on becoming a doctor or a lawyer. So any time we’re exposed to a lot of possibilities to indulge our creativity, to pursue new interests in life, it goes to show that it’s a good way to begin off. And they’re paving the way for new generations, even for kids of color.


MTV News: What does it mean to you to be involved in this project and shooting female athletes at the best of their game? 


Ramirez: As woman as well as a woman of color, to be a piece of something so huge for the WNBA athletes is such a fantastic honor. And I feel that it’s something that you rarely visualize. A lot of times WNBA athletes are photographed in a way that’s just basketball, basketball, basketball. And so they don’t get the same possibilities or the same popularity as NBA players, so for me have the ability to make an idea, to shine a light [and] show them as more feminine figures — although strong at the same time — it’s a spectacular feeling. And it’s just a honor that I got to do that for myself at 19 years old.


MTV News: What was your inspiration for the shoot? 


Genesis Gil: The thing with athleticism and females is that from the get-go, as a woman, you’re not necessarily pushed toward that direction. You’re more pushed toward something soft — like wearing dresses — although while you visualize girls who are not that, that indicates that maybe you could be both.


MTV News: What was it like being on set and actually shooting these photos? 


Ramirez: It was incredible. It was honestly an excellent adrenaline [rush]. I never really thought I could be segment of the set; I was routinely in back of the scenes. To pick my own lighting, to pick my own props, it was just incredible. I wasn’t stressed — I admired the adrenaline. I felt motivated, I wanted to do better, and make Arike look incredible. She already does, however I wanted to prepare her look cute and strong, and I worked really hard for it. I shot for three to four hours, although it didn’t even bother me.


Gil: On set, taking photographs of those girls, it was sort of like once you’re walking down a street so you visualize a person coming the opposite direction so you sort of pause and stare at them because something about them just exudes power; it’s so radiant that you've got to watch it and take it in. …[The athletes] were so powerful.


MTV News: What inspires you as a photographer and artist? 


Gil: Photography permits me to express something that I can’t really express in words — feelings and ideas, and what it means to be myself. And I think photography is also really crucial because it’s like a timestamp, and it’s good to remember the time. I think without art, places and people and ideas would just be forgotten.


Hewitt: Heritage and my background. My family member is from the Grenadines— and I would not be who I am or have the behaviors that I do without that, and I’m so delighted. So a lot of it is inspiration from my family member and my grandmother, [who was] an immigrant coming to Brooklyn, New York, and purchasing her own brownstone while working four other jobs, and living while in the civil rights era. Knowing that story and every trial and tribulation that she had to go through, that’s what pushes me.


My whole thing is to make images of my people that are positive. [I want to] talk about families, talk about sisterhood brotherhood, and around the different things that are essential to each individual.


MTV News: What is the largest challenge you face as a young artist?


Hewitt: A mix of insecurity and not being social enough. Especially in this industry, it’s about...Going out there and talking to people. I’ve done the work by getting to these openings and getting to these events, yet the other half is starting my mouth. I was habitually that kid at the party that was just sitting down and reading a book. That was my biggest struggle in the same way throughout the shoot: I would attempt to think of, “Okay, how do I begin start-up a conversation? What would [the basketball players] desire to talk about? Maybe I can talk about music; maybe I can talk about these different things.” Yet it’s been a constant struggle for me that I have to work on.


Ramirez: It took me a while to identify that it has to take corporation, it has to take commitment, plus it has to take character to show that your ideas are worth it and for you to be confident in your ideas. In the past, I would go with the norm. I was looking at others and saying, “Okay, let me do it like that, and maybe I’ll get some publicity and maybe I’ll get this thing that I wanted.” Although that wasn’t me. So, I just started to prepare as several ideas as possible, from my mind and my heart; and I just pulled them out...But I kept them organized and I kept them realistic.


Gil: Self-doubt is the most cruel thing that I can do to myself; yet I converse with people [about it] and process whichever I think I’m feeling. Doubt is just another way to feel that you wish to prepare yourself better, you desire to be better. So if you’re doubting yourself, it’s...Kind of like a fuel for improvement. The doubt can be turned around into something good.


MTV News: in case you can give other aspiring young artists one segment of opinions, what would it be? 


Hewitt: Just get to work. Anyone can dress the part, however probably 95 percent of it is doing the work. I think that focusing on your craft and taking advantage of what is in front of you is the hugest thing. You could only get those glasses and those expensive shoes and that Gucci belt by showing up, doing the work, being respectful, knowing your audience, and putting in the time to do your craft. Do the work.


Ramirez: Never think lightly about your ideas. Even in case you think your idea is also big or ridiculous, it’s not silly. ...You have to be confident in your own self.


MTV News: What do you hope people take away from viewing this project? 


Hewitt: These are females that are strong, that are powerful, that are confident in themselves; and I want [people] to be able to see them and respect them as ladies. I just wanted to prepare ensure the photos encompassed who and what they are; and I wanted the players themselves to feel that these photos expressed them, that they felt comfortable and confident in those photographs. These are powerful girls, they’re strong girls, and I respect these ladies. I’m overjoyed that they’re here, they’re alive, they’re working, and they’re doing excellent things.


Gil: I hope that little men and ladies visualize that ladies can be athletic; females can be feminine; they can be a “tomboy” and an athlete, and this doesn’t mean that they’re any much less woman. To be able to see that ladies doing whichever they want, it normalizes this idea that ladies aren’t just fragile females in dresses.


MTV News: Who is your dream photo subject? 


Hewitt: Anderson .Paak or Erykah Badu — those two are the opening that pop into my head.


Ramirez: The main character in The Shining — Jack Nicholson.


Gil: At the moment, who I really, really wish to photograph is my grandma because she’s the only living grandparent left that I have. I just haven’t done it because she’s for now away from me. I love to look at old family member photos...It’s a reminder that there was a time before me and there will be a time right after me.


These interviews have been edited for span and clarity.