Loving on a single mom.
Miss T had been on the fence about a boudoir photoshoot for ages and just hadn’t pulled the trigger. When I asked for women who would be wiling to sign a model release and full artistic control in exchange for a session discount, T was one of the first to apply.
I think it was the makeup-free photo in a Hogwarts sweatshirt that sealed the deal for me. She had these huge glasses covering these sparkling eyes. Her insanely beautiful red hair and porcelain skin just added to her beauty.
She honestly didn’t say much in her application. Some women spill their guts, but something in her photos spoke to me.
When I met T, there’s this warmth to her that makes you feel like you’ve always been friends. She mentioned her son and her eyes lit up. She told me about moving here from Houston. She told me about the new job she was hoping to take. She told me about her best friend whose name is tattooed on her wrist.
Being a single mom is not easy. But she never once had a single negative thing to say about it. Her strength and quiet confidence made her so easy to photograph.
When I photograph a woman, I want to see the emotions in her. I learned from a mentor a long time ago how powerful it is to put women in touch with these emotions. We are so often going through the motions of life, that we don’t stop to recognize what we feel. When we are allowed to do that, and then it’s captured on camera, it is so freeing.
An emotion that I’m not particularly comfortable with is vulnerability. So I rarely photograph it it. I prefer confidence, joy, desire, laughter, flirtation… anything but vulnerable.
But that day, it spoke to me. Because I’m pretty sure that T doesn’t let herself get vulnerable too often. I’m sure she’s built up her confidence and to let some vulnerability show is uncomfortable. I didn’t realize how often I captured her throughout the photoshoot in this way until I went through the images to share here. But she makes it look beautiful, right?
T, you are just an amazing young woman and I am so glad you sent me that 2-sentence e-mail to model and the photo in the Harry Potter sweatshirt because girrrrl, you rocked this shoot and I loved being your photographer.
CLICK PHOTOS TO SEE SLIDESHOW
