Brown Bohemians: Honoring the Light and Magic of Our Creative Community

With a slew of colorful, bold photographs, Vernon, Ashley, and Pruitt, owners of the Bohemian Brands online clothing and home-goods store, spotlight a creative community of authors and artists “recognizing and elevating the underrepresented and the undervalued.” The bohemian lifestyle, according to the authors, is marked by openness, creativity, appreciation of all life, and guided by the spirit to forge artistic freedom. To that end, in this collection of photos and mini-biographies, they gather a well-rounded group of “Brown Bohemians” who hail from Africa, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and the U.S. Shanita Sims, a photographer from Brooklyn, thinks that “vulnerability is where the magic begins.” Shanaz Hughson, a jewelry designer and native of Mumbai, India, believes all free spirits are at war with censorship and violence (“body decoration is our sacred duty” reads the text alongside photos of handmade brass jewelry). Jae Vernon, a black lesbian immigrant to the U.S. from London “who often gets called ‘young man’ ”—pictured in a black beret and turtleneck sweater—has learned to live egoless with her androgynous lifestyle. Thought-provoking, elegant, and immensely entertaining, this coffee-table book opens a window onto creative bohemian life. (Feb.)