Kyla Jenkinson and Wesley Sebern first teamed up in the portrait and wedding business as Kyla Jackson Photography. These sisters have given their subjects a voice through an unparalleled creative process. Their extraordinary images are kinetic, vibrant and exploratory.
Their story of how Photo Divine came to be…
Our mom was born on June 18, 1955 nine weeks early and weighed only four pounds: A survivor from day one.
For years we defended questions of why our mom was so thin, but we were too busy “growing up” to really give attention to her health. On July 26, 2006 she was officially diagnosed with severe adult anorexia. Her therapist told us “This is the start of a very long journey,” a journey longer than any of us imagined.
We went on a crusade to create positive body image. We met with fashion and commercial photographers to figure out how to change an industry that feeds society disproportional images of women. We devised ways to showcase photographs of real women. We wanted powerful, strong women. We wanted warriors. This was our approach to changing a paradigm, yet it was exhausting, as if we were fighting a war.
Photo Divine became our pro-peace approach to creating positive body imagery. We focus on building an image that celebrates each woman that we photograph. We collect information, we listen, and we learn in order to produce photographs that reflect the uniqueness of each participant. This work is rewarding and healing not only for us, but for everyone in the company of a woman being celebrated.
July 2009 the next big hit to our family: Cancer. Over a period of 6 months and multiple chemo treatments, this rare form of lymphoma was attacking our Mom with vengeance. One specialist of four told us the answer we wanted to hear. With confidence, Dr.Myint claimed he could save our Mom’s life with a bone marrow transplant. Four months later, many trips back and forth from Durango to Denver and 45 days recovering in the ICU from double pneumonia, we consider what Dr.Myint and his team did for our Mom a miracle. However, one thing that can never be measured medically is the human spirit. She survived to witness the birth of her second grandson on November 3, 2013 and celebrated four years post bone marrow transplant.
On November 10, 2014, our mom passed away. She taught us true strength and gave us time to say goodbye. She was so proud of the woman we have become and our mission to promote healthy body and self-image through our photography.
Our Mom is our inspiration.