100 Women We Love 2016

Here’s to this year's class of the women who inspire us, give us hope, make us laugh and make us want to get up and dance. 

DEBBIE-JEAN LEMONTE

Debbie-jean Lemonte is the owner and photographer of DAG Images, as well as the content creator of The Loc’d Bella, a lifestyle and fashion blog. A graduate of CUNY’s Queens College, her academic career focused on dance, psychology, the fusion of the two studies and how it can help as therapy for those who’ve suffered from trauma. Since then, she’s acquired more than four years of experience as a photographer. Her photography series, We Are Queens, was featured recently on For Harriet (a blog community for women of African descent) where it garnered praise for its inspiration to women of color. Her latest collaboration came about earlier this year, when she served as an event photographer for GQ magazine. She’s also had the distinctive honor of being named one of Autostraddle’s “50 LGBTQ Black Women You Need to Know Because We Are Awesome.” What gives her the greatest fulfillment in her work? “Capturing moments that seem minuscule to some, as well as helping another individual see their beauty in still frame,” Lemonte says. “Sometimes there are moments when the client will see an image of themselves and mutter ‘Oh, wow! I look good!’ and that makes me happy. To me, that’s one of the best rewards ever.” –SLO


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