For Savv Branham, Photography Became More Than Just Images. It Became her Voice.

Savv, aka SUPAHPUNK, didn’t plan on becoming a photographer. Now, she’s helping shape the visual identity of one of the DMV’s fastest-rising clothing brands, Klenam.

The Maryland-based creative, better known as Savv, approaches photography less like documentation and more like world-building. Her images are loud, saturated, theatrical, and emotionally charged, with an energy that immediately stops a scroll. But long before becoming Klenam’s lead photographer and creative director, photography was never even part of the plan.

Growing up, Branham was surrounded by creativity through her mother, who worked in portrait and family photography. Still, she never saw herself following that path. Instead, she enrolled at Stevenson University to study graphic design, searching for something that felt creatively fulfilling. Then one accidental class changed everything.

“I rolled my eyes and took it,” she says while laughing about the intro photography course she only signed up for because it fit her schedule. Within weeks, photography became the one thing she genuinely cared about. While classmates completed simple assignments, Branham was sneaking into abandoned demolition sites at three in the morning to shoot portraits or staging black-and-white film photos deep in the woods simply because the idea excited her. “It became my creative outlet,” she says. “The one thing that really held me together creatively.”

That obsession quickly turned into persistence. Photography became her minor. Then came internships, studio lighting, Adobe Photoshop, and countless hours teaching herself techniques outside of class. Branham became obsessed with experimenting with bold contrast, grain, fisheye lenses, and hyper-saturated color palettes, which now define her visual style. “I love making things feel like their own world,” she explains.

That world eventually caught the attention of Kelvin Gyimah, founder of Klenam. What started as a DM asking her to model turned into one of the most important creative relationships of her life. Instead of stepping in front of the camera, Branham sent him her photography work. A month later, he booked her for a shoot.

At the time, she was working with a cheap Amazon flash and barely enough equipment to call professional. Still, she showed up. “I was terrified,” she admits. Their first shoot lasted only minutes before store employees kicked them out. The photos, in her eyes, were imperfect. But Kelvin kept calling her back. That belief changed everything.

As Klenam grew, so did Branham. The brand allowed her to upgrade equipment, travel, direct campaigns, and sharpen her eye creatively. More importantly, it pushed her to stay hungry. “I always felt like I had to keep getting better,” she says. Today, Branham helps lead Klenam’s creative direction, shaping the brand’s visual identity from the ground up.

But behind all the visuals is something much deeper.

At 13 years old, Branham was diagnosed with a rare disease called recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, which caused tumors to grow on her larynx. Multiple surgeries and long periods of vocal rest made communication difficult throughout her teenage years. So she learned to communicate differently. “I think imagery became my way of speaking,” she says.

Now in remission after undergoing an immunotherapy treatment at the NIH, Branham still approaches photography emotionally, visually, and instinctively. 

Every image feels like proof that she never stopped finding ways to speak.