East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York – February 2022 - Professional photographers Justin Ifill-Forbes and Neriah McBain are the owners of Co-Lab Studios in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  

The 950 square-foot studio boasts top of the line equipment and bonus access to the building’s 20,000 square-foot rooftop with gorgeous views of New York City, but what makes Co-Lab Studios unique is the owners’ dedication to community

“Co Lab Studios is a home for people to really and truly come together and find a space where they can be the best version of themselves,” says McBain.

Ifill-Forbes and McBain know there are tens of thousands of registered professional photographers in the United States, but they noticed that Black and brown photographers were far and few in between.

“We’re not as prominent in this space,” says Ifill-Forbes.  And in their opinion, that lack of diversity shows.

“When you’re being photographed by people who don’t necessarily know your story or understand your story, you tend to be portrayed in a way that isn't actually what you want to be portrayed as,” says McBain.

Their mission was to make Co-Lab Studios a place for those who felt they’d been left out.

“Our goal was to have it so that creatives of color felt safe,” says Ifill-Forbes.

Meezy Gaspard can attest that Co-Lab Studios is a safe place to learn and grow.

“I think it’s really important, especially being a woman of color, [to be welcomed with] open arms when I’m asking questions,” says Gaspard, who is being mentored by McBain. “It bridges the gap between [those of] us trying to learn and actual professionals.”

McBain also mentors 18-year-old Cameron Adams. On his first day shadowing McBain, Adams was surprised that he was invited to a big photo shoot.

“The first day I was here, Neriah taught me a lot,” says Adams.

Mentoring and teaching are integral to Co-Lab Studios. Ifill-Forbes and McBain host workshops, do one-on-one teaching and offer the space to photographers to teach their own classes. The two say giving back is important to them because they had to figure it out the industry on their own. 

“Early in my career, I reached out to someone that I thought was amazing and their response was ego forward,” says Ifill-Forbes. “[I was told] you have to pay me, and in the early days I decided when I get to the level of where I want to be, that’s not going to be me.”

In fact, it’s no coincidence that the “Co-Lab” in the studios’ name is derivative of the word collaboration. Ifill-Forbes and McBain stress collaboration in everything they do and encourage it for others. On a typical day the studio is filled with people working on several different projects, bouncing ideas off one another.

“It’s always good to get perspective,” says Gaspard.

“In this space art tends to be more of a group thing,” says McBain.

Ultimately, Ifill-Forbes and McBain hope Co-Labs Studios becomes a well-known hub for anyone who wants to pick up a camera, especially creatives of color, and a conduit to change.

 --Erin Clarke, StorySMART with assistance from Dexter Henry, StorySMART

NOTE – There Was A Collaborative Effort To Tell The Co-Lab Story

This story was made possible thanks to EditMentor, an innovative educational company that teaches video editing through an interactive gamified technology platform.   EditMentor is revolutionizing the way video storytelling is taught by making it accessible and fun through a practical interactive process. EditMentor operates from the belief that video literacy is for everyone. StorySMART was hired by EditMentor to help provide video storytelling elements for EditMentor’s new broadcast journalism curriculum targeting primarily middle school and high-school students. All footage is courtesy of EditMentor.