Photo: LaLux Photography
LaTasha Lux 'Earth and Air'
LaTasha Lux 'Earth and Air' with Tyrone Randle Jr. and Kamila Ahmed
LaTasha Lux is a photographer whose work showcases how she perceives the world around her. She takes pictures of everything from portraits and families to weddings and special events to street photography and social justice actions to creative shoots and so much more, operating under the name LaLux Photography. Originally from Chicago, she has lived in Milwaukee for about 20 years.
Photography for LaTasha Lux began as a triumphant success story, as she explains. “I have two sons, one is 16 and the other is 31, and after my first son was born, I went through a prolonged bout of postpartum depression. One of the ways I saw myself through that was when I bought a camera.”
Lux took pictures of her son in case for any reason she was not there once he grew up. “I wanted him to have something to hold onto from when we were together and happy,” she recalls. “Needless to say, I stuck around (laughs).”
As she continued healing with the help of her creative medium, Lux would start branching out into different styles of photography over the years. Storytelling with the camera is her constant goal, no matter the context; she elaborates, “In any situation where I can use images to convey a story, that’s what I want to do. I feel very strongly that when you look at an image, you should feel something. It should invoke emotion. That is what I want to leave as my legacy.”
Documenting the Uprisings
Lux’s extensive portfolio encompasses two websites, a Pixieset version and a Zenfolio version. Some of her recent work includes shoots of local band RAT BATH, the 2023 Juneteenth Celebration, the 14th Annual Milwaukee Alano Club Walk for Recovery, and the 2021 Black Trans Visibility Celebration.
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She prominently documented the 2020-2021 uprisings in the streets following George Floyd’s murder and was present for various peaceful protests and rallies supporting causes such as Black Lives Matter, Free Palestine, Mother’s Marches and Orange Shirt Day.
Photo: LaLux Photography
LaTasha Lux - Black Lives Matter March
LaTasha Lux - Black Lives Matter March
Once Lux saw on the news that Milwaukeeans had been demanding justice for police violence, she joined the movement in the streets and began chronicling the power of the people day by day, remembering, “Something in me that day just told me to go. I grabbed my camera and didn’t know where I was going but I just went and tracked down this group. There were so many stories to be told with the diversity of the people that were there and how everybody was able to identify in that moment. That period brought me closer to so many people who I needed in my circle and who could educate and encourage me, and I’m really grateful for it.”
She notes the importance of recognizing what mainstream media does not show when it comes to marches and movements. “They show you fires and broken glass when that wasn’t what I saw when I was out there. It was all just people taking their blinders off and really coming together.”
Lux has made several of her shoots available for purchase as prints, wall art and cards as well. One such shoot is “Earth and Air” featuring Milwaukee activists Tyrone Randle Jr. and Kamila Ahmed in Grant Park and Whitnall Park. “I gave them very little direction and captured them just being themselves,” Lux described the activists’ energy. “Out of all my collections, that shoot is one of my favorites.”
LaTasha Lux is excited about several personal projects she is currently working on. One professional focus of hers is to make shoots and portraits readily available for families and People of Color, saying, “Representation matters. It mattered to me when I saw Black women on ‘Star Trek’ for the first time… things like that are important to me. I want women of color of all shapes and sizes to be able to see themselves in beautiful images.”
If folks want to work with LaTasha Lux, get in touch with her via Facebook or Instagram @laluxphotography. Visit LaLux Photography’s store here.
“Sometimes you have to take a step back and understand all the beauty around you, and that it’s worth it to still be here,” Lux concludes. “If you love to do something, do it.”
