Three to tango

Mahaneela ChoudhuryReid, Kajal Patel and Fáiz Akindojuromi have managed to infiltrate the all-boys club of creative directors. And they're determined to leave the door open for others like them.

- UPASANA DAS.

When she was a young kid being driven into Manhattan from Brooklyn—where she lived—Kajal Patel would squeal excitedly every time her grandfather pointed out a newsstand he owned. There was one in particular she liked better than the others: the kiosk in front of the New York Times building.

Craning her neck out of the car window to take in the length of the 52-floor edifice, she'd marvel at the fact that her grandfather had managed to secure a spot for himself on its hallowed periphery. Patel had no idea that, years later, a video she would direct for rapper and songwriter Meghan Thee Stallion would bring her closer to the building, within the very pages of the newspaper compiled inside it.

Photographer, filmmaker and creative director Mahaneela Choudhury-Reid, who shuttles between New York, LA and London, had a similar out-of-body experience when the Levi's ad featuring Beyoncé that she had worked on was splashed across hoardings and storefronts all over the world last year.

For most brown creatives, international musicians appear on their moodboards, playlists and bucket lists, but seldom on their CVs. Even artists of colour are often surrounded by an all-white crew, which, while talented, isn't able to bring the sensitivity of their lived experiences to the table in the same way. What Patel and Choudhury-Reid have managed to accomplish—especially as brown women of colour—is an exception, not the norm.