History through photos: Tash Haynes

Tash Haynes, a content creator, and photographer met Trae Holiday at the Green Book exhibit at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma. Haynes creates beautiful portraits and displays her amazing work on her Instagram. Haynes has been at hard work for nearly a decade. Her sense of persistence, though, started long before.

During Haynes’ youth, she was a part of the foster care system. As she got older, she eventually aged out of the system. However, Haynes’ wanted to ensure her kids never questioned where she came from, so she started taking pictures of everything. Soon, this blossomed into her own wedding photography business.

Haynes and her husband launched their business in 2009; according to her, she was a pioneer of the ‘document your whole life’ aesthetic we often see on social media platforms. Their signature style is always to create something that is classic; they never wanted their work to feel dated. “We want to create classic imagery that is modern but will also stand the test of time,” said Haynes. 

The power of pictures is something that is incredibly important to Haynes, and every photo shot is a story told to Haynes. As she looked at the Green Book exhibit, she was amazed at the storytelling power of the Green Book. “imagery and pictures, they show us how far we have come, but they also show us how far we need to go… If we didn’t have these pictures, we wouldn’t have a history because our histories don’t necessarily make it into the books,” said Haynes. 

Haynes also wants to make sure to instill the importance of Black history in her young children. According to Haynes there is more than a want; there is a responsibility to teach Black history. “As a creator, I will go above and beyond to create the things that are already spoken about when it comes to Black parents, Black Men, Black women, and to share those things and to elevate them,” said Haynes.

If you want to check out Hayne’s work, make sure to follow her on Instagram.

Also, make sure to watch the full interview on Youtube above.