The Onyx Project
A fine-art portrait series honoring 25 accomplished Black women from Loudoun County, Virginia.
The Story
“Onyx: A rare gemstone, deep black in its purest form, forged under immense pressure into something unbreakable and luminous. Like the women it honors, Onyx does not merely absorb light. It holds it, transforms it, and reflects it back to the world. In The Onyx Project, Onyx is not just a stone. It is identity. It is resilience. It is the beauty that emerges when Black women are seen, celebrated, and exalted exactly as they are.”
The Onyx Project is a fine-art portrait series created by photographer Marquel Forbes, rooted in Loudoun County, Virginia. Twenty-five accomplished Black women. Four portrait scenes. Each session is an hour of dedicated artistry, culminating in four professionally framed 16x20 black-and-white fine-art prints.
This is not a commercial shoot. This is a cultural document. Every woman selected for The Onyx Project is accomplished, present, and deserving of an image that reflects her full weight. The work does not soften, flatten, or summarize. It honors.
The Onyx Project was built for the women of this community who have shaped it, led it, and poured into it. Women who have rarely seen themselves represented with this level of intentionality. That changes here.
The Experience
Each portrait scene was designed with a single purpose: to render a specific dimension of who these women are. The four scenes are not interchangeable. Together, they form a complete portrait of a life fully lived.
SCENE I
Intimate. Direct. Undeniable. Mid-chest to crown, both hands beneath the chin, eyes steady at the lens against a pure black field. The Soul is the anchor of the series and the primary image of The Onyx Project. Nothing is softened. Nothing is withheld.
SCENE II
A tall tufted dark velvet wingback chair. A floor-length black gown. Rembrandt lighting against charcoal velvet drapery. She does not bow. She does not lean. Her presence in this frame is absolute, and the frame knows it.
SCENE III
Large tropical botanicals surround her: philodendron, bird of paradise. A black off-shoulder dress. Her gaze moves upward. Rooted in what came before and still reaching toward what comes next. Growth as inheritance.
SCENE IV
A classical fluted column. A structured black blazer and wide-leg trousers. Hard directional overhead light. Plain concrete wall. She is not decorative. She is not background. She is load-bearing. The architecture exists because she does.
The Process
Every participant moves through the same considered sequence, from the first application to the framed prints that carry the work forward.
Submit your application. Every submission is read personally by Marquel Forbes.
Selected applicants are contacted directly to confirm an investment tier and schedule the session.
Professional hair and makeup, included, to prepare you for the lens.
One hour. Four scenes. The Soul, The Throne, The Garden of Legacy, and The Column, each rendered with intention.
You return to view the work and select the portraits that will become your series.
Four professionally framed 16x20 black-and-white fine-art prints, yours to keep and to pass on.
The Portraits
Portraits will be revealed as the series is completed. Each image added here is a permanent record. Twenty-five women. Twenty-five documents of excellence.
The Artist
Marquel Forbes is a fine-art portrait photographer rooted in Loudoun County, Virginia, with more than seven years behind the lens. Her work is built on a single conviction: that a portrait should render a person as she truly is, present and dignified and fully seen.
She is known for putting even the most reluctant subjects at ease, and that trust is the foundation of everything she makes. The Onyx Project is the fullest expression of her practice, where the portrait becomes a cultural document and the sitter becomes the record.
She created The Onyx Project to honor twenty-five accomplished Black women of her community with the intentionality their stories have always deserved.
The Investment
The Onyx Project operates on a tiered investment model. Every tier receives the same experience: the same four scenes, the same session, the same four framed prints. The tiers exist to make participation possible for the right women, regardless of circumstance. Legacy Supporter contributions directly fund complimentary placements for honorees who are selected and deserving.
TIER ONE
For women of Loudoun County who are ready and whose participation strengthens the collective purpose of the series. The full experience. The full series. No compromise on craft.
TIER TWO
The standard rate for participation in The Onyx Project. Four scenes. Four framed prints. One session built entirely around you.
TIER THREE
For those who wish to do more than participate. Legacy Supporter contributions directly fund a complimentary placement for a deserving honoree selected for Tier Four. Your name in the archive. Your investment in the record.
TIER FOUR
A small number of placements are reserved for women whose stories belong in this series and who are selected to participate at no cost, made possible by Legacy Supporter contributions. Selection is at the discretion of the photographer.
The Application
Applications are reviewed personally by Marquel Forbes. Submitting an application does not guarantee placement. Selected applicants will be contacted directly to confirm availability and investment tier.
