Building from the photographer’s initial vision for a tennis inspired shoot, I expanded the concept through storytelling, styling, and character direction. I developed the larger narrative around Black identity moving freely through spaces where we have not always been centered, using the tennis court as both the setting and part of the story.

For the wardrobe, I drew from classic tennis and country club codes, incorporating striped knits, collared shirts, ties, pleated silhouettes, denim, and bold accessories while giving each model an individual sense of style. To create a subtle connection between the looks, I customized both models’ ties with coordinating pins, using the shared detail to bring cohesion to their styling without making them feel identical. I also directed the posing and interactions between the models to make the story feel lived in rather than simply staged on a tennis court.

I wanted the final project to feel like a vintage sports campaign, so I carried that direction into post production by directing the color grading and adding graphic elements to the hero shot to give it the character of a retro sports advertisement. Together, the styling, environment, posing, color treatment, and graphic direction transformed the original tennis concept into a fuller story about identity, freedom, and taking up space.