Morgan Le Shade, the self-proclaimed shadiest man in Tampa Bay, is in all reality an exceptional human being not only for the year of 2021 but in general. His incredible work within the LGBTQ community as well as my life partner has shown me that there’s a lot more to him than meets the public eye.
Throughout the last few years of the pandemic, he has struggled but overcome many obstacles as a self-employed Black entrepreneur, like having to leave a corporate job and take a leap of faith on his own talents as a photographer. He’s beaten all odds and proven himself by being successfully booked and blessed by the very community he supports day in and day out. Sadly last year was a hard one for Morgan as he unfortunately lost one of the most important men in his life due to COVID, his father.
While coping and dealing with this tremendous loss I watched Morgan manage to both keep his mother in good health as an only child and ensure his thriving photography business kept going. As a show director, he continues to produce and host his incredibly successful evening The Shade Showcase at City Side Lounge.
He had previously hosted this event monthly at Flamingo in St. Petersburg, which was well known in Tampa Bay, and was seamlessly able to relocate this diverse, open and inclusive night to Tampa without ever skipping a beat. All of the shows he has produced throughout in the last year have been nothing but diverse; showcasing many local talents of all races, genders and skillsets. In my opinion, he’s produced numerous first-of-their-kind shows in the Tampa Bay region.
I personally am so proud to be his partner and know he is very humbled to be receiving this recognition as one of the Watermark’s Remarkable People of 2021. I look forward to continuing to watch him to thrive and anticipate nothing but great things for this talented photographer.
To view the full list of Watermark’s Remarkable People of 2021, click here.
