I’m so grateful to all the amazing people who made 2018 so wonderful, I’m truly excited to see what 2019 has in store.
Photography Business Highlights: I spent 2017 working on building my portfolio and had a few sessions on top of that, I was really looking forward to see how 2018 would develop. 2018 started off slowly, but I kept moving forward. During that time, I had spoken to many women and I often heard similar reoccurring objections to being photographed. Not pretty enough or too old, as well as many body image issues. Bottom line we don’t feel worthy, and this made think about how society and the media reinforce this message. Within days of this revelation, a dove campaign, “real beauty sketches”, came up on my Facebook feed. If you haven’t seen it, you need to.
See video below.
It re-enforced what I had thought and gave me the idea to photograph women without makeup, showing them their true and natural beauty. I want to redefine beauty one photo at a time and change how we women see our selves. We are more beautiful than we think.
So, in June of 2018, I began a portrait project which I called “UNMASKED”. My plan: photograph 1000 women, no makeup, and wrapped in fabric to show them just how beautiful they are. Maybe I could change a few women’s perception of themselves, and hopefully that confidence will be passed on to our daughter’s.
My momentum grew from June-Sept, I photographed 38 females for this project, and had a few personal branding sessions as well during this time.
Looking ahead in 2019: I absolutely loved meeting and working with so many incredible women for my portrait project in 2018. I am looking forward to meeting and working with even more amazing women in 2019.
Personal Highlights from 2018: As I gathered pictures from 2018, I realized I did not take many personal pictures. This will change in 2019.
I kicked off 2018 with physical therapy due to an injury and spent the next several months in it. Towards the end of the year, I had to undergo surgery. While my recovery has been quick and I have been healing well, my mobility has proven to be slower going and more challenging than originally anticipated. It is still a work in progress, but I’m seeing more improvement with each passing day. If you love irony, you will appreciate this: I have begun 2019 with physical therapy.
Looking ahead to 2019: I am looking forward to a trip to visit family in the spring. During that time I hope to have a chance to photograph my mom. We are not close, physically or emotionally. Every family has its issues. I know that one day when she is gone, I will want to have some pictures of her, of us together, and some with her grandchildren.
Wishing everyone an amazing 2019