This is a new weekly series where we feature our incredibly talented Adolescent members and their work! Sign up here to join the Adolescent Membership and be part of the @ family!

Hey, Adolescent readers! This week, our Adolescent Member Crush is Ebony Kennedy, a photographer and creative director often referred to by her artistic moniker: 11enm. Ebony’s work predominantly lies in portraiture, where she juxtaposes bright pops of color with stunning dark skin. She’s shot five series for Adolescent, each of which sets its models in glamorous, highly stylized environments. Keep reading to learn the meaning behind 11enm and how Ebony got in to photography.

Adolescent Content: What’s your favorite project you ever done? 

Ebony Kennedy: One of my favorite projects I’ve worked on is [the 2019] LightBox Studios campaign. I was able to bring in models, fashion designers, and makeup artists, [and] the project was intended for creatives to have a space to express themselves...freely. It was a great experience to give other artists a chance to meet and collaborate.  

Adolescent: How did you come up with the artistic moniker 11enm? 

Ebony: The number 11 is my favorite number. 11enm represents my first name, Ebony, my middle name, Nicole, and my last name, McKennedy.

Adolescent: I love your ‘90s Retrograde series. What was the inspiration behind it?

Ebony: The [fashion of the] late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Retrograde [doesn’t use] the same exact style, though, since I wanted to add my own style to it [to the fashion of the time period]. I wanted to do something different and bring color to the shoot. So I thought about expanding my ideas and collaborating with the perfect stylist and model, Bowtie Jones!

Adolescent: How did you get into photography?

Ebony: In my sophomore year of high school, I took an intro photography class, and my professor wanted us to go out and take pictures. I didn’t have a professional camera to work with, so I actually used my mom’s Android. After taking pictures of whatever I wanted, I realized how much I enjoyed just going outside and taking pictures. Being that I couldn’t afford a professional camera at the time, I fell away from photography until around 2016 when I was able to purchase my first Canon T5I Rebel.

Adolescent: What’s next for you? 

Ebony: I want to travel around the world, partnering with different companies to work on projects. I also would like to get into videography, making video concepts for different artists.