Ciera Hall, a FAMU alumna, found her passion for photography while taking photos for The Famuan in 2010.
She took her passion and created a brand, FAMUly Affair. Over the years the brand has evolved from capturing precious moments of Rattlers and FAMU’s journey, into a platform to connect Rattlers.
FAMUly Affair celebrated its 10-year anniversary on Aug. 10. Hall was planning to celebrate this milestone during homecoming, but she had to go back to the drawing board because COVID-19 canceled the annual fall event.
Hall came up with an innovative way to achieve the idea for FAMUly Affair by using social media to connect fellow Rattlers. Hall created an Instagram series, FAMUly Talk.
“So, FAMUly Talk is basically my plan B to do what I wanted to do during homecoming. The 10-year anniversary was always going to be about, you know, just like connecting Rattlers near and far; being true to our mission and just letting the Rattlers know who’s in the FAMUly and what we’re doing now,” said Hall.
The series began on the third of August. Hall plans on talking with 87 Rattlers throughout this series. She has been selecting mainly entrepreneurs from an Instagram post. The post has over 800 comments by Rattlers and their businesses.
Hall said, “It’s been 10 years not just for FAMUly Affair, but also for those that joined the “Hill” from 2010 to today. We literally have captured people from their freshman year to their graduation date and a lot of photo albums that we have on our Facebook page. So, now, it’s like we’re talking to people and catching up with people that I have literally caught their freshman year, they’ve graduated and now they’re doing stuff with, you know, they’ve moved on into entrepreneurship.”
FAMUly Affair has been capturing memories for almost a decade. There are photo albums on FAMUy Affair’s Facebook page of many different events and moments that people look back at, reminisce, and share with others from 2010 to 2019.
Vallery Agenor, an alumna and former FAMUly Affair photographer, said, “I think it’s almost as an umbrella like FAMU is that Famuly aspect, but FAMUly Affair was able to capture it. And even like years later, you have people bonding over it. It’s like you could go back and laugh at that memory, even if that was somebody who you necessarily were with every day, but they remember that and then they talk about it. I get DMs still about pictures that I took.”
Orange and green runs through Hall’s veins. She is a legacy Rattler, aone-time member of the Marching 100, and she was Queen of Orange and Green in 2011-2012. After she graduated, she created an online store with Famuly and FAMUly Affair apparel.
Byron Morrison, an alumnus, said, “One of my high school teachers who graduated from FAMU back in the 70s. He, you know, was asking me about how can I get a shirt that says FAMUly on it. You know, seeing those words FAMU and orange and green, you know, they can attract generations.”
No matter which class you came in with the FAMUly community is full of connections and opportunities. The connections don’t just disappear after graduation, Hall said.