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The Black Frame, A Shade Ethical Visual Masterclass
The Exhibition06 / 09
Portrait of Joy Ude, Shade Storyteller

The Black Frame · 2026

Joy Ude

Wedding & Editorial Photographer, Through Joy Lens

Shade Storyteller

Certified by The Shade Institute, 2026

Joy Ude was born in Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria. She holds a degree in Computer Science and is currently a Business Management student at the European Business Institute of Luxembourg. She is the Creative Director of Through Joy Lens, popularly known as Joy Lens, and works primarily as a wedding and editorial photographer.

A romantic who appreciates the beauty of candid moments, Joy focuses on documenting both the intimate and joyous aspects of a wedding, the quiet glances, fleeting emotions, laughter, and the moments that unfold naturally. Her approach is centred on preserving not only how a wedding looked, but how it felt.

The Work

SEEN: The Shade of Belonging

4 photographs

This documentary photography project explores the emotional impact of colourism on a young dark skinned girl who has grown up feeling unseen and made to question her own beauty. In her search for acceptance, she begins to believe that bleaching creams might help her become closer to the standard of beauty she has been taught to admire.

Through intimate images, the series examines self perception, comparison, and the painful ways societal standards can shape how a person sees themselves, while tracing the gradual journey towards seeing and accepting oneself beyond those standards.

SEEN · Plate 1

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