Behind the Lens: Capturing Bahari’s 2025 Independence Collection Honoring Bahamian Culture
BAHARI BAHAMAS’ INDEPENDENCE COLLECTION ‘25
Bahari has built a reputation for launching monumental campaigns that captivate the nation—sparking excitement and long lines of eager customers rushing to get their hands on the latest designs. Independence Day, one of the most celebrated holidays in The Bahamas, also marks the brand’s biggest and most anticipated collection of the year.
Each year, Bahari masterfully reimagines its Independence designs, drawing inspiration from iconic Bahamian symbols, historic events, and cherished scenes from our past. This year was no different—and when the brand approached me to photograph their new collection, I jumped at the opportunity.
I was genuinely impressed by the designs. They’re not only visually striking but carry a depth and cultural richness that make them even more powerful in person.
Behind the scenes, the energy was high from the moment we stepped onto set. Models were being styled with precision, garments carefully steamed and adjusted, and the creative team fine-tuned every detail to make sure the vision translated perfectly on camera. The heart of the set was a massive LED wall that projected moving images of Old Nassau, layered with AI-generated vintage Bahamian scenes. That mix of nostalgia and innovation made the backdrop feel alive—almost cinematic.
This was only my second time working with consistent studio lighting, but with each shot, I felt more in control. It gave me the freedom to focus more on expression and body language—how to direct and position the models in ways that felt natural yet powerful. There were moments of spontaneous magic—quick laughs between takes, adjustments in poses that ended up being the final selects, and even a few goosebumps seeing how beautifully everything was coming together in real time.
What Bahari created with this collection goes beyond clothing. It’s a reminder of who we are as a people, where we come from, and what we continue to celebrate.
Bahari Fall 2016 Campaign
The Bahari Creative team always gives me "some" wiggle room when it comes to the brands new campaigns. So when it came time to shoot the Fall 16' series for Bahari, they made it perfectly clear that they wanted to direct this shoot. With some reluctance, I figured it would be good to have the geniuses behind the brand direct their own photoshoot.
The looks were incredible, the models were fluid and gave great movement to the lens of both the video and still camera. In Bahari true fashion, we had the set constructed for the shoot because we wanted a different approach. This artistic, nature inspired "cube" was the perfect backdrop for the bold prints of the new line.
A great joy for me was challenging myself to photograph the entire campaign with natural light. No strobes we used to capture the images so I was very proud with the results. Please enjoy the images and short fashion film below.
Photographer: Scharad Lightbourne
MUA: Antonya Jenoure
Stylist: Joel Stubbs
Hair: Omeece Culmer
Photo Assistant: Aaron Davis
Fashion Film
Directed by: Morgan Fernander & Scharad Lightbourne
Filmed by Ashley Whitney & Malik Smith
Produced by Ashley Whitney
Bahari Spring 2016 Campaign
With the rise of this local clothing giant, Bahari Bahamas Ltd releases their 2016 Spring Campaign. The campaign was shot in Nassau, The Bahamas at The Cliffs. With the talents of Miss Bahamas Universe 15/16 Toria Penn and male model Endierich Rahming, the bright and bold styles of their pieces strike lightning again!
I had the opportunity to preview the pieces for the spring collection before hand and I immediately got excited because every collection, the company seemed to improve tenfold from the last. My team was equally excited and impressed on shoot day agreeing that in fact, to date, this collection has been Bahari's strongest.
The set was alive with great electric energy from our team and models. We had our home base blasting music like we were in the club and with charismatic chatter, strong models and a hype crew, we rocketed through the looks shooting frame after frame with unbelievable precision shouting out ecstatically once achieving that "money" shot.
Photography + Creative Direction: Scharad Lightbourne
MUA: Ts Artistry
Hair: Yonarda Beneby
Styling: The Style Diaries
Models: Toria Penn, Endierich Rahming
Grips: Aaron Davis, Malik Smith