I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who replied to my newsletter and Facebook post with interest in participating in my upcoming new promotional video. The response was overwhelming; I am both humbled and honored. More importantly, I am taken back by the stories that were shared wth me. And believe me, choosing one woman to be a part of this project was not easy. I will get to that in a moment, but first want to address a common thread that ran through just about every woman’s story. Because I was looking for the particular demographic of age 40 or older, I found that despite whatever hardships life had presented these women, they are all becoming stronger and wiser because of it; they portrayed an air of confidence and self acceptance that I feel is only gained and truly respected through intense life experiences. Some of them may not see this quite yet, but I could read it in their words. Because of this, their desire to work with me in order to capture and share this inner beauty and strength is gratifying on a level that I cannot put into words…but, it is why I am deeply in love with my career.
The sharing of these very personal stories also caused me to think very intently not only on the much deeper meaning of being intimately photographed, but also on the fact that I do not share enough of myself with all of you. How can I possibly ask my beautiful, courageous clients to be vulnerable with me if I am not equally vulnerable? So, I will start sharing more of my messy self along with my work because, quite honestly, these women who answered my request and every woman I have ever worked with inspires the hell out of me.
With all of that said, again, it was a difficult decision, but something told me that I had to work with Monica, a 43 year old Mother of three whose story hit me right in the heart:
“I’m afraid of the camera. I need to get over that…That being said, I think this is a project I think I need to be a part of. You see, I am a widow. My late husband passed away almost 2 years ago after a 4 1/2 year journey with a very rare and aggressive form of cancer. It was devastating and it definitely took its toll on my confidence. Since then, I have met a wonderful man who lost two family members to cancer, not only his wife, but also his 10 years old daughter. He is an incredible man with a 12 year old son…and we are engaged to be married this June. He tells me I’m beautiful everyday and I know he would love to “see” me feel this way too. Not to mention, I want to show my sweet daughter that we can feel beautiful and confident at any age regardless of where your life takes you and that we have a choice in how we respond. We can choose to grow by life’s experiences or we can choose to be stunted by them. I choose to grow.”
This is a project unlike one I’ve ever created before. I can’t wait to work with Monica and share her experience with all of you. xoxo
You are beautiful…let us show you.