I AM A MARVEL
#IAMAMARVEL
#Iamamarvel is a photography project inspired by Womens month and the Marvel Studios film Captain Marvel, which is the tale of a hero’s journey of female fighter pilot Carol Danvers. Inspired by the film, 3 creatives (Basma Khalifa, Nene Parsotam and Asiko) came together to photograph and document the stories of 11 inspirational women who embody Captain Marvels spirit, strength and humanity.
The collection of portraits celebrate the strength and resilience of women and the women photographed represent diversity in ethnicity, background, body forms and age. These women are doing extraordinary things, helping and inspiring others and overcoming obstacles, they are rising to the challenges in front of them and being the hero in their own story.
They are Marvels.
Poorna Bell
Poorna is an award-winning journalist of 15 years and a digital editorial expert, having worked as UK Executive Editor and Global Lifestyle Head for HuffPost. She currently freelances for Grazia, The i Paper, The Guardian, Red magazine, Stylist, Women's Health.
In 2017, Poorna broke new ground with her book 'Chase the Rainbow' based on life with her husband Rob. He had suffered with depression and addiction, and tragically took his own life in 2015. Poorna used the book to share her story and highlight how important it is to raise awareness on issues from suicide to mental illness.
Maisie Sly
Maisie is a profoundly deaf 8 year old from Swindon, who played the lead role in an Oscar-winning film 'The Silent Child'. Maisie is the fourth generation of her family to be born deaf.
Asma Elbadawi
Asma is a Muslim basketball player, coach and spoken word poet who recently successfully lobbied the international basketball association, FIBA, to remove a ban on hijabs and religious headwear. Asma who is Sudanese recently won the award for Rising Star in Sports.
Shannie Mears
Shannie is a rising star as the chief talent officer of The Elephant Room and GUAP magazine’s talent and brand manager. Shannie has co-founded her own advertising agency, been invited to speak at numerous industry forums, and was recently named one of the top 100 talents of 2018.
Dilys Price OBE
Dilys Price age 86, holds the Guinness World Record as the Oldest Female Sky Diver. “Daredevil Dilys”, made her first parachute jump at the age of 54 and she has now completed more than 1,139 jumps for charities that support disabled children and young people. In 1996, she founded The Touch Trust from her kitchen in Cardiff where it soon grew into a renowned centre for movement education (called 'touch therapy') for people with autism, dementia and profound disabilities.
Hermon & Heroda
Hermon and Heroda are Eritrean-Ethiopian twin sisters who run an online platform called 'Being Her' which aims to empower deaf people and promote the notion that Deaf people can do it. They are both Actresses, Influencers, Travel and Fashion Bloggers.
Alex Bruni PhD
Alex Bruni age 61 is a model, author, fashion activist, yoga/sleek technique athlete, age and body positive icon. She is of Italian/Spanish decent and was a lecturer with PhD before taking starting her modelling career in her late forties.
Shauna Flowers
Shauna Flowers is a ex US military veteran who served in the army for 20 years. After suffering with depression following her service in the Army, Shauna set up Freedom from Camouflage, a platform to help female veterans deal with the many challenges of readjusting to life outside of the military. She is currently a makeup artist and life coach.
Katy Sullivan
Katy Sullivan is an American actress, Paralympic track and fielder and US record holder. Katy was born a bilateral, transfemoral amputee – missing both legs through her femur bones.
As an actress, Katy has appeared in award wining plays and theatre productions and various television shows and independent films including the award-winning documentary, WALK ON.
Kathleen Humberstone
Kathleen Humberstone is a 19 year old drama student with Down’s syndrome. She’s a bilingual model and recently appeared in River Islands fashion campaign for their recent 2018 Autumn Winter collection. She’s a campaigner for Down’s syndrome and recently addressed the United Nations in Geneva.
Video Interviews
As part of the #iamamarvel project we interviewed the women to hear their inspirational stories and find out what makes them marvels.
The videos give a voice to the stills and allows for these incredible women to share their stories.
Video directed by Nene Parsotam and Basma Khalifa and shot by Strong Point Entertainment
#iamamarvel
The team behind #iamamarvel
3 creatives came together to work on the project; Basma Khalifa, Nene Parsotam and Àsìkò
Basma Khalifa
Basma Khalifa is an Afro-Arab Fashion Stylist, Art Director and Film maker. Having worked at several British glossies ranging from Harper’s Bazaar to Elle her breadth and knowledge has seen her fly all over the world from styling celebrities such as Adele to creative editorials in Sudan. Basma was the stylist for the Viral Campaign the Looks Like Me “Black Panther” portraits which was featured world wide. Since then Basma has gone into produce and present her debut documentary for BBC3 “Inside The Real Saudi Arabia” which amassed over 1.8mil views to date.
Nene Parsotam
With over 15 years’ experience working within the advertising and design industry, Nene is primarily a senior designer and art director, including an excellent grasp on print design. Idea conception, digital campaign idea generation, layout, art direction and UI design are Nene’s core abilities. Having worked in some of the top global ad agencies, Nene has a natural air for branding, brand values and marketing – with the ability to make campaign ideas work consistently across various mediums. Nene conceptualizes photoshoots and directs creative teams on set to achieve the right image for both brand and PR photography: from fashion to editorial to conceptual to mixed media, across a variety of sectors from telecommunications, TV, FMCG, banking and film. Has been a D&AD Judge twice and a judge at Eurobest 2018
Àsìkò
Àsìkò is an African visual artist who expresses his ideas using photography and mixed media. Àsìkò is an idea engine who creates images as a response to his experiences of identity, culture and heritage. His project, ‘Layers’, exhibited at London’s Southbank Centre in March 2016, was featured on BBC television and in the Huffington Post. Another of his recent work, ‘Looks Like Me (Black Panther Portraits)’, was profiled on Britain’s Channel 4 television, and in Essence magazine last year. It was also exhibited at the British Film Institute. Àsìkò completed his first solo exhibition in London at the Gallery of African Art last year titled ‘Conversations’ which explored violence against women resulting from African patriarchy.