Seeing Beauty
My super power is seeing beauty in everyone, even when they might not see it in themselves. I don’t think I’ve ever thought of a woman as homely or ugly or plain. My passion for photographing women was born out of realizing that they are so lovely yet dang hard on themselves, and I want them to see the beauty that I see. It’s not just outer beauty, either. That’s part of it, but I think women are incredible, looks aside. I photographed a grandmother a few weeks ago whose daughter is going through a hard time, so my client took in her baby grandson to care for while her daughter gets her life back on track. Despite health challenges, abuse, and trying to run a business, this woman expanded her already full life to include a wee one. That is AMAZING. Women do this kind of thing all the time, and it’s a love and a beauty that is quiet and not often seen. It’s time to celebrate it. Women are remarkable because of their ability to be resourceful and because of their adaptibility and resilience. They bend but don’t often break. There’s something about coming into your power as a woman, embracing it all, recognizing it, celebrating it, and having your beauty immortalized on paper.
Elle Macpherson said, “It’s not vanity to feel you have a right to be beautiful. Women are taught to feel we’re not good enough, that we must live up to someone else’s standards. But my aim is to cherish myself as I am.” That’s my goal for every woman that I photograph. I want you to realize that you have the right to feel beautiful. You have the right to shine. It’s OK to confidently step into your beauty—not in a vain way, but a quiet, confident, matter of fact way. There is something very powerful about knowing your own strengths and choosing when to use them effectively—to recognize how amazing you are and be graceful and classy about it, and to cherish yourself, despite your flaws. A great deception is that in order to love others more we need to think of ourselves less. Yes, there are selfish, narcissistic people on one extreme. The other extreme is just as unhealthy, though, and in my experience that’s where many women sit. I’m not saying you don’t have areas you wish you were doing better at, or qualities you’re not fond of. Anyone with any self-awareness has those! If you’re like me, you get discouraged because despite your best efforts there are some things that sit with you for years that you don’t feel that you have improved, and it makes you feel bad about yourself as a person. I assure you that EVERYONE feels that way. You’re not alone. Those qualities don’t mean you’re less than anyone else. It means you, like everyone else, are human. I also know that you give everyone else more grace than you give yourself. It’s what we do. As I’m writing this I had quick thought about the first great commandment to love others as ourselves. I think as women we need to learn to love ourselves as we love others, and as we learn to love ourselves, our already incredible capacity to love others will increase even more.
A good place to start seeing your own beauty and having a transformational, life changing experience and a memory to last a lifetime? A legacy portrait session. And if you’re still not quite in the head space of doing it for yourself, do it for your family so they’ll have beautiful images of you. The benefits to you will still be the same, and maybe it’ll be the catalyst for stepping into that confidence that will not only make your life better but spread like the warmth of the sun to those around you.
Win win!
