Chicago-based artist Shani Crowes photo exhibit Braids is a love letter to the beauty of black hairstyles.

The exhibit is currently on display at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) until November 2016 and includes five black and white photographs of models adorning different braided hairstyles, all of which Crowe took and styled herself.

While black natural hair has a fraught history in the United States, often facing inordinate scrutiny or deemed outwardly political , Crowes photos aimed to showcase the beauty of braids. In a new HuffPost Rise video, she said she drew inspiration from various cultures when deciding on the hairstyles, one of which took 12 hours to complete.

Some of them are inspired by gods and goddesses or presentations of divine people or divine beings, she said. Some of my inspiration is from Ethiopia, Eritrea, of course you have Ghana and Nigeria, [countries that] have very, very beautiful unique hairstyles.