A young artist from Trinidad has made Brooklyn her new home, but says she wants to shed some light on the island life.

Kearra Amaya Gopee arrived four years ago to study advertising, but she switched majors to study photography and digital art.

"I use my own photographs, and manipulate them in such a way, or photograph to illustrate a story," she says.

One series is based on the folklore of her native country — including an outcast vampire shunned by neighboring villagers.

Her focus is not on beaches and tropical life, but the other aspects of Caribbean culture, she says.

"They touch on small, sinister details that happen in the background of these images," she says of her work. "There's the sea, and then the sea looks red, and then there's a bloodbath...a little comment on sex trafficking and sex labor."

Her work is currently on display at New York University as part of her senior thesis project.