I am Rachel Olivia Taylor, cinematographer and overall creative, born and raised in Charlotte, NC. As a young Black woman, I’m incredibly grateful to have been paid to work in the industry of what I love to do since I was 19 years old.

 

I am now 23 years old. I earned my bachelor’s in fine arts degree with a major in Film and Television from the Atlanta campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), where I graduated in 3 years thanks to the college credits I earned in a middle college program during my last two years of high school.

 

As the head of the camera department, I enjoy the excitement and responsibility of acting as a painter, using all of the tools of the various departments (camera, lighting, locations, art, etc.) like they are paint, brushes and other instruments to bring to life the illustrations of each frame. This is what I do. I cannot imagine living this life in the full-time pursuit of anything else.

 

I bring a unique perspective to every project I take on because I am my own person. Even if you meet another Rachel Olivia Taylor, I can guarantee they will be nothing like me. I have my own plethora of experiences that have made me a well-rounded individual at a young age. I can acknowledge and talk about my privileges both as someone who has never struggled to have their needs met, as well as someone who has experienced several difficulties simply because I am a dark-skinned Black woman moving throughout this world. I am passionate, I am caring, I am joyful, and I am an advocate for others sometimes more than I am for myself. I want my work to reflect people who look like me in the most beautiful of ways. What I want for my career as a filmmaker is to continue creatively contributing to stories centered on Black characters; not period pieces or historical dramas that profit off of the trauma Black people have experienced.

 

I am constantly challenging myself to rise to the top of an industry that so heavily lacks representation of people who look like me; on and off screen. I desire to see unambiguous Black people on screen in roles outside of drug dealers, slaves, baby mamas and every other “Black Trauma Porn” fantasy that Hollywood has been obsessed with force-feeding to unwilling, and/or uneducated audiences.

 

I believe the people, specifically Black and Brown people, of this world deserve better from the powers that be, and I will never shut up about it until it is achieved. I want my work to reflect people who look like me in the most beautiful ways. Black people are not a monolith, and the systemic hardships we face do not make up the story of our lives, but rather are impediments on our otherwise tremendous history of resilience.

 

It is completely absurd to believe otherwise, and quite odd that it is still unimaginable to some people that there could be something as simple as a Black mermaid, a Black demigod, or even a Black person just existing in the world of a fantasy drama series. Black people exist in the real world. The goal and mission of my creative journey is to properly represent us in the various realms on our TV screens, too. I’m ready for the next generation of Black in every genre from romance, to action, to sci-fi. I look forward to experiencing my growth as I continue my creative journey through mainstream media as it is today.

 

Ultimately, this is the start of my endeavor to contribute to this ever-evolving industry by broadening representation in the artistic creations presented to the world.