On this episode of 85 Percent, we meet Kai Lawson, founder of Black Girls Shoot Too (BGST), a creative community for Black women and women of color photographers in Los Angeles. A longtime Wanderful member and part of our LA hub, Kai won the Social Impact Award at the 2026 Bessies.
Kai started BGST in March 2025 by posting a single photo walk on Eventbrite, just to see who would show up. About 40 women did. Since then it has grown into monthly photo walks and workshops, mentorship, two gallery exhibits (many of them the photographers' first), and a group photo tour to Panama in January 2027, all built in the off hours around her 24-year career with the County of Los Angeles.
We talk about:
- Winning the Bessie, and the feeling that her grandmother Bessie was in the room
- How a dad with a camera turned into a lifelong obsession with photography
- The Eventbrite post that started it all
- Why representation behind the camera matters as much as in front of it, from skin tones and lighting to who gets hired and paid
- The photographer who said "I don't think I'm a photographer," until her framed print hung in an exhibit
- What fuels her, and what's next: a membership, a nonprofit, and a space of their own
Connect with Kai / Black Girls Shoot Too
Website: https://www.wearebgst.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackgirlsshoottoo/
BGST Panama Photo Tour (Jan 21-26, 2027): https://www.wearebgst.com/panama-group-trip
Events: https://www.wearebgst.com/event-list
Chapters
00:05 Intro: Beth introduces Kai and the Social Impact Award
01:25 Interview begins
02:14 Winning the Bessie
02:32 The Bessie finalist dinner
03:29 Did she know she'd win? Her grandmother Bessie
04:12 Origin story: a dad with a camera
05:08 The Eventbrite post that started BGST
06:19 The first photo walk: 40 people, a market, and a drum circle
07:20 How BGST grew: monthly walks, workshops, a studio
08:00 The first gallery exhibit: "Now I'm a curator"
09:11 The numbers: Black women in photography
10:33 Who is pictured, and who is behind the camera
11:37 Skin tones, lighting, and fighting for space on the job
12:45 Getting women of color photographers hired and paid
15:05 What fuels her: a full-time job, no team, and a lot of love
15:45 The BGST Panama photo tour and international exhibit
17:48 What's next: membership, a nonprofit, a space of their own
18:37 What the travel industry could do for Black women photographers
18:57 Why community changes what women are willing to try
20:27 "I don't think I'm a photographer": the Getty moment
21:59 Why women hold themselves back
23:37 Creating the validation we wish we had
24:50 "It's inside of you"
25:32 Closing thoughts
25:59 Outro
