By Samuel Getachew

Twin photographers Saunia Anthonette Watkis-Fagan and Sonia Antoinette Watkis are on a mission. They aim to create an outlet where women can bond, share and network. Sway caught up with them as they reflect on their powerful and meaningful journeys in photography and activism.

You have had a long and rich career in photography and activism related to empowering women. Tell us about that.

We always had a love for photography. We grew up with our mother always documenting our lives through pictures and videos. We were labeled the friends who always had their camera with them. Through our photography sessions with clients we would engage in conversations and it’s safe for us to say that every woman had a story.

Now that story may not necessarily be a bad story, but everyone that we encountered had a journey. We then aligned ourselves with Dr. Roz Healing Place which is a centre for women and children leaving abusive/violent situations. Last year, we had the pleasure, with our team (Paparazzi Chicks), to hold a workshop for the residence of DRHP. The feedback from the ladies in attendance was really touching.

Tell us about VII.XV

VII.XV by MirrorImages is our multimedia firm VII.XV is Roman numerals for 7.15, which is our birth date. MirrorImages, which we purposely spelled as one word, represents us as identical twins but also represents our clients and our goal to celebrate their beauty within … mind, body, soul.

You say your event Satisfying Her Soul is an event for women who “want a place where we as women can bond, share, network. A place where we can trust each other and where can have positive relationships.” Please explain.

Our opinion is that women have been trained to have a very dysfunctional, fake, judgmental and untrustworthy relationships amongst each other. We know this because although we have an awesome circle of friends we have been in that place at least once. Our Satisfying Her Soul events are meant to create a place where women feel safe and comfortable to share as much or as little about their journey or story.

You both have conducted a number of workshops. Why were they each useful and important to the participants?

As we mentioned briefly, last year, along with our team (Paparazzi Chics), we held a workshop at Dr. Roz Healing Place, which was called Celebrating You. That day we came with our hair stylist, runway coach and self-esteem builder. The workshop proved to be useful and therapeutic. Based on feedback we got from the ladies they said that we had “tapped into their souls”.

The play The Diary of a Black Man was in Toronto recently. Can you tell us about your relationship events that keep the dialogue moving between both men and women.

Last November we organized an event called HERstory. We touched on topics relating to relationships, being single, and issues that affect both men and women and how we interact with each other. It was by popular demand why we revisited the discussion with our recent HIStory event. Unlike last time there were no elephants in the room. There were no topics that we were afraid to address.  We had a great panel with a variety of individuals with different views, opinions and perspectives.

You have a number of events coming up. How could our readers find out more information?

Sway readers can visit our blog Misisterscloset or website xiixvbymirrorimages .  Any woman who would like to share their journey on our blog can email us at [email protected].

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