RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Now let's meet two photographers who work with an exclusive and imaginative clientele. They're an Atlanta couple, Kahran and Regis Bethencourt.
KAHRAN BETHENCOURT: Kids are just - they offer unlimited creativity.
MARTIN: Their photos turn kids into real-life versions of their own wildest dreams.
K BETHENCOURT: We get so many amazing ideas. We just did one - she was celebrating her 15th birthday, and she said that she wanted to be a fairy tale lion.
MARTIN: The birthday girl was Jhene from Providence, Rhode Island.
JHENE: I just love lions, and one of my favorite movies is "Narnia." So he's a very kind lion, but he's also helpful, and he takes care of his people. So I wanted it to be fierce but also soft and kind.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Now, not all of the Bethencourts' clients are that clear about what they want to become.
K BETHENCOURT: We had a little boy who - his mom said, he's a Renaissance man. He likes sports, he likes gaming, he likes art. And so we did a shoot that showed all of his sides.
WHITCLIFF: I was very proud because it helped me see what my personality was like.
INSKEEP: That's 12-year-old Whitcliff from Smyrna, Ga. Kahran says bringing kids' imaginations to life is rewarding.
K BETHENCOURT: We really get to kind of be dream-makers and make these kids' dreams come true during the shoot. It's really fun.
MARTIN: And Regis says it's also affirming for the kids.
REGIS BETHENCOURT: My definition of Black excellence is being yourself unapologetically.
MARTIN: The portraits are collected in a book called "GLORY: Magical Visions Of Black Beauty."
K BETHENCOURT: We really wanted to shatter the conventional standards of beauty for Black kids. We highlight a variety of kids across the African diaspora. There are over a hundred photographs captured around the world. And in it, we bring to life past, present and future visions of Black culture.
INSKEEP: Photographers Kahran and Regis Bethencourt run CreativeSoul Photography in Atlanta.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINITUS TEMPO'S "A STROLE THROUGH SAIGON") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
