Self-Portraits as Self-Care. Images by Alaina Hunt.

Alaina Hunt


Alaina Hunt is a photographer and visual artist based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

As a Black, femme living in the shining, gleaming buckle of the Bible Belt, I have to assimilate in order to be seen by those who benefit most from the status-quo. Being expected to constantly code switch, comfort and cater to the fragility of a predominately white society makes me feel bent and warped. Hyper-visible and invisible. This distortion keeps me from wholly seeing myself. In January of 2017 I began to check in with myself once a week. I would ask myself questions: “Who am I right now in this moment?” “How do I wish the world saw me in my Blackness?” I sought out to express the vulnerabilities I had been suppressing to protect myself through the Black female gaze.


Alaina Hunt

Alaina Hunt

Alaina Hunt

Alaina Hunt

Alaina Hunt

Alaina Hunt

Alaina Hunt

Alaina Hunt

Alaina Hunt

Alaina Hunt

www.alainahunt.com