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.
Portraits of Realtor. Private Banker & Watch Collector, Bobby Chen
“Working with Scharad was a cakewalk. He’s a consummate professional full of creative energy along with the perfect timing to capture the essence in every shot. He went above and beyond to ensure that the environment and creative process brought out the best expressions in me and my wife. An absolute pleasure to work with and the finished products are indeed timeless to say the least.”
I met Bobby Chen a few years ago when I did some headshots for the real estate firm he worked for, and he seemed to be a pretty cool dude. As I followed his career path, I noticed he had an interesting portfolio that included cryptocurrency, private banking, and more so, a love for collection luxury and vintage timepieces.
You see, photographers are always looking to add more exciting people to their portfolios. Bobby seemed intelligent, accomplished and we both shared similar interests.
I reached out to Bobby via social media and asked him if he would shoot with me. After explaining my concept some more, he eagerly agreed. I explained to him I would photograph him in a way that timelined what a possible day would look like for him. I made up this story that he’d wake up, take a morning swim, have coffee in bed with his wife before heading to work and I also threw a pseudo modelling career for fun and date night with his beautiful wife, Patrice. We all felt this was going to be a great shoot to execute.
The shot list was simple enough, but I called on friend/stylist Shan Oliver to put all the looks together. Bobby had multiple options for wardrobe from his own closet, so we simply pulled from that to make it work. Working with a stylist is very important; I showed Shan a mood board of looks that I liked, and she was able to put pieces together based on my vision and used her expertise to make each outfit pop. She knows my style is clean and straightforward, so she made the styling the same.
The shoot went relatively smooth and we shot the entire day. Bobby got through it like a champ and with his wife by his side, he was able to confidently knock and model his looks out the park. The team had a great time working with this multifaceted Bahamian.
Bobby Chen by Scharad Lightbourne
Styling: Shan Oliver
Grip: Tameka Petit Homme
Grip: Sammy Rutherford
MUAs: Torkel Dawkins- Patrice’s morning look
MUA: Raven Forbes - Patrice’s evening look
"MARCH ON!" Bahamian Flag Inspired Beauty
Model: Tarea Sturrup
Working with a talented makeup artist is always an incredible experience for me. I get these really crazy ideas, and it is still great to know an artist who can help bring your ideas to life. I’ve known Italia of Eye Candy Makeup for some time now, and we’ve worked on epic projects before. We were both coming off a slump due to being quarantined, but when I gave her this idea to collaborate on a shoot where the theme would center around the colours of the Bahamian flag, she did not hesitate.
There was no one else that could do this besides Tarea Sturrup, the reigning Miss Universe Bahamas. We saw via Instagram that she had recently cut her hair too, so her look was perfect for the concept. Italia’s studio was perfect for doing everything. Our concept involved applying dramatic makeup to the model layered with various sizes of gold glitter. I watched her (Italia) like a kid at Disney World for the first time, my mouth hung, seeing her apply everything to the model. It was indeed about an hour and a half build-up that I could appreciate. We sometimes have no idea how much time goes into works of art but experiencing this in person was definitely an eye-opener.
For my lighting, I used a 3 light setup. (see photo) One strobe overhead the model fitted with a blue gel to cast the light over the model's torso while another strobe sits behind the model to her right fit with an orange/yellow gel as an edge light. Another strobe was placed behind me to give the model’s face some fill and what you see are the results are exactly what I wanted. Tarea put the modelling background to the test! I gave minimal direction. Once the flashes began to fire, she moved and danced, slithered and sauntered her head, shoulders, hands and eyes into mystical frames.
I did a BTS (behind the scenes video) of the set so that you guys could see the shoot in its entirety from application to shooting. Please enjoy the images and video. Feel free to leave a comment below. I’d love to hear what you think!
