Alyscia Cunningham is an author, film director, tactile artist, and photographer whose work has been featured in the Smithsonian, National Geographic, AOL, and Discovery Channel. She is the founder of Her House Media, a production company dedicated to documentary and horror films by women of color. Her creative focus includes beauty, resilience, health, and cultural heritage, and has been featured in "The Huffington Post", "Cosmopolitan", "The Washington Post", Fox 5, and "ABC 7."
Early life and education.
Cunningham was born on March 17, 1979, at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. Her parents are originally from Trinidad and Tobago. Her father, Clyne Cunningham Sr. (also known as Clyne Ever), a visual artist and musician, was stationed there with the U.S. Army. At age two, the family moved to Germany for another assignment. Following her mother's stroke, Cunningham and her brothers—Clyne Cunningham Jr. (aka Composer Clyne) and Curt Cunningham (aka Charms the Fly Brat)—members of the hip-hop group Natural Mystics, relocated to Corona, Queens, New York, to live with their grandparents.
The family eventually settled in Maryland during Cunningham's teen years. She studied photography at Montgomery College, earning an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in 2002.
Career.
Cunningham's projects highlight themes of beauty, identity, and cultural narrative. Her debut book, "Feminine Transitions" (2013), features unaltered portraits of women and girls, paired with personal reflections. It was featured in "The Huffington Post," "Cosmopolitan," and "The Washington Post".
In 2018, she launched "I Am More Than My Hair", a photo series and book capturing stories of women who experience hair loss. The accompanying documentary premiered at AFI in 2019.
To make her work more accessible, Cunningham incorporates audio description and tactile technology for audiences with visual impairment. She also delivered a TEDx talk titled “Making Art Accessible”.
In recent years, she transitioned into filmmaking. Her short narrative and documentary films include "Annexation", "Douen", "Senses", "Negro Mountain", "Douen II", and "Seeing Without Sight". Her House Media supports these projects with a focus on stories written and directed by women of color.
Cunningham is also a public speaker, addressing topics related to body image, race, and media representation. In 2017, she presented “Politics, Hair, and Body Image” at Saint Mary’s College of California.