“This photoshoot is called ‘Stepping Stones,’ and is dedicated to me and my beautiful friend Jasmine Lyck’s personal and creative growth.”

“In the Desi community and culture, dark-skinned women are often left in the shadows, and yes, representation is growing but at a very slow rate. Instead of relying on other creatives to include and allow dark-skinned women to take up space, we took the initiative to create some magic.”

“Women often face stringent beauty standards, and this has commonly been heightened amongst women of colour. Asian women are frequently sexualized as ‘exotic’, but yet have to maintain the fantasy of being demure and pure. One of the main intricate links between beauty standards, identity, and colonialism is colourism…colourism not only is harmful in the construction of self-worth, confidence, and economic opportunities to women of colour, but also poses public health risks, as we shall discuss in this article.”