Excerpt from the interview with Piper Carter from Sylvia’s “I Like Her Style” blog:

Would you say being a black woman has helped or hindered your career thus far?

Well, I would have to say hindered. Many times people see my website and don’t know if I’m a guy or girl nor what race I am because my name is not typical and sort of interesting. But then when I go into their office for a meeting they seem shocked! Many times editors will tell me to keep trying, keep shooting and come back. Sometimes they’ll say “well we don’t want hip hop this is a fashion story”. And I wonder why they are telling me this because I don’t have any hip hop images on my site nor in my portfolio. And when I try to get work from so-called Black publications I just get a smile. Many times they’ll tell me how much they love me and my work, but really never hire me and I see lots of mediocre images published and think, “Wow! How come this person is getting work from this publication and they tell me I have to go back to the drawing board?” I have gotten a lot of really cool assignments from major fashion institutions anyhow though because I just exercise my winning personality and lots of persistence.

Read the full interview.