In helping her subjects to center themselves, Ms. Chambers would tell them: “Close your eyes. Breathe in. Exhale. Look at me.”

Mr. McCrory, of National Black Theater, said the hallmark of a Chambers photograph was her ability to elevate tangible elements — the person’s eyes, the release of tension in the face, the use of lighting to showcase physical attributes — onto an intangible plane. “She invited her subjects to lean into their discomfort,” he said, “and they would find it to be a loving space.”

In addition to her portraits, Ms. Chambers liked to take pictures outdoors. One of her most notable street scenes was of the dancer Jayniece Carter doing an exuberant grand jeté leap across a Manhattan street amid the hustle and bustle of traffic.

Her photographs were all the more remarkable because in recent years her illness took so much out of her. “Her hands and joints were stiff from arthritis,” her sister said. “Even just holding the camera was an effort.”

Ms. Chambers freely discussed on social media what it was like to live with lupus. She developed a large online following and bonded with others with chronic diseases. As she wrote on Instagram in May, “Just because we (ppl w/autoimmune) have invisible illnesses does not mean we need to make ourselves invisible.”