Mecca Clarke is the founder of Blk Girls Shoot, a collective of photographers of all levels – new, junior, and senior. Previously an annual event, Mecca is now expanding her summit to a two-day event where participants can build stronger relationships. Mecca Clarke took A Seat At The Table to discuss Blk Girls Shoot and talk about her faith.
What made you start BLK Girls Shoot?
When I first started photography, it was very male-driven. Anybody at the top of the space was either white men or mostly men. In February 2023, God came to me literally in a dream and said, start this event. When I saw the dream, I was like, ‘Okay, this is not real,’ because I had no experience running events. I wondered if I even qualified for this.
But I always remember that God truly calls the unqualified to spaces, and he will prepare you along the way. You just have to be obedient and show up. So I gathered my panelists, made a flyer, and within five hours of posting it, I sold out over 150 tickets. My mind was blown at that point, because now it’s showtime. I can’t back down now, because people are willing to show up.
The event had amazing turnout. The girls loved it. It was a lot of information. I got so much great feedback. And the most important thing was I got community. … [The] same community that I was desperately wanting for myself, and just people around me who look like me, who could understand the troubles I was going through at the same time, I created for myself, and now so many other girls are now running their own businesses and, just growing and thriving in this space based off of that one decision.”
Can you tell us more about your upcoming summit?
[This] is actually going to be the first year that we ever decided to do two days instead of one. And the reason for that change is I was tired of those same cookie-cutter events where girls come and they get motivated and they hear from other girls in the industry, and they’re excited for that day, but what happens right after that day? It just fizzles off, and you never see them again, or you really don’t make much progress, because motivation is fickle.
[My] goal in creating it, having it being a two-day summit this year is for girls to walk away with actual knowledge and tangible, actionable steps to actually progress in their business. So day one is going to be all about education, learning, tools, techniques and tactics to really grow your scale your business. We’re going to be talking about systems. We’re going to be talking about branding and marketing, talking about everything that entails in the business side of building a photography business.
Day two, we’re going to keep it at the core of what we actually do, what we’ve done in the past, which is networking, building community, learning from not just learning networking across, but also networking up, and learning from people … who actually have made real impact in this space as well, and who’s also been really successful as well. So the three main things that you can gain from being a black girl shoot is knowledge, community, networking and just really a fun time, like, let your hair down, come enjoy yourself.
What’s some advice for the girl who doesn’t think she can charge the prices she wants to or just don’t believe they are good enough to charge for their work?
As a Black [woman] or just women in general, I think we’re often told that you’re not worthy, or we’re taught, sometimes we’re even taught to devalue ourselves, or that we’re not enough in a lot of ways, and as artists, I just want to say to whoever’s listening to this, I want to remind you that you are more than enough. There’s somebody out there who’s willing to pay you what you’re worth. You need to get in from the right audience … and no one else is going to believe how much you’re worth until you believe it for yourself. But if you don’t believe it for yourself just yet, I will be the person to remind you that it’s possible. I’ve done it. Jesse J has done it. So many people have done it, so many amazing dope women have done it. And you can too.
