Working with Women

I have always loved working with women, and as I experience the inevitable process of getting older, those connections have become more important to me all the time. It’s perpetually bewildering to me that we women seem so shocked by the lines on our faces, the appearance of the bones that used to be cushioned over, and the other inevitable changes that accrue. How we respond to these changes is a personal decision, but I’d like to focus on the positive over the negative.

My own rebellion against this persistent societal pressure has been finding its outlet in my creative work. As I meet and photograph so many amazingly strong and competent women, I find my that my own mission is to help women find their time in front of my lens as empowering rather than discouraging. So many brilliant women have expressed these things so well.

Simone de Beauvoir: "To lose confidence in one's body is to lose confidence in oneself." 

Oprah Winfrey: "Are you ready to stop colluding with a culture that makes so many of us feel physically inadequate?...This is a call to arms. A call to be gentle, to be forgiving, to be generous with yourself. The next time you look into the mirror, try to let go of the story line that says you're too fat or too sallow, too ashy or too old, your eyes are too small or your nose too big; just look into the mirror and see your face. When the criticism drops away, what you will see then is just you, without judgment, and that is the first step toward transforming your experience of the world.”

At the risk of diving too deeply into this topic when all you want is information about hiring me and what I charge, I do want you to have a window into my perspective on this work. My intention is not to glamorize you or to pretend that you are someone else, but rather to find the authentic person inside and shine a light on that. My goal, when I am photographing a woman, is to keep shooting until I feel like I’m really seeing you at your best. When we meet, I'll ask you to tell me a bit about yourself and how you’d like to express who you are and what you have to offer through your portrait. Do you want to look confident? Playful? Independent? Smart? All of these? Are you more comfortable in an outdoor setting or in a studio? Are you nervous about being photographed? Do you want to get a little help from a makeup artist and/or hair stylist before the session? Are there features about your face and body that you really love and want to showcase, or are there features you want to avoid? The answers to these questions will help me know what direction to take as we work together. Some people just need a basic headshot for work and others want a more in depth experience with various outfits to capture different sides of themselves. Let’s explore these questions and plan your portrait session together!

I'm not asking you to become a revolutionary, march in the street, or burn your brassiere. I'm hoping you'll join me on this personal journey toward expressing our authentic selves. The author Doris Lessing called growing old "one of the most valuable experiences that I personally have ever had. A whole dimension of life slides away, and you realize that what, in fact, you’ve been using to get attention, or command attention, has been what you look like.” We don't have to keep doing that. We don’t have to keep doing that. Our lives are unfolding with mysterious beauty, from the inside out. Let’s unearth that gold together.


Lynne