''Confidence at 52 is different
than the confidence I had 10+ years ago. Now, confidence is built around the experiences I have had to this point in my life - speak from experience. It’s a quiet but more powerful confidence that comes from inside."
Meet Tanya - one of the 30 women I photographed for a projeect called 30 Days of Gorgeous.
Is this why they say "50 is the new 40"?
30 Days of Gorgeous was all about empowering women over 35 to step outside of their comfort zones to experience a makeover and photoshoot - the full glam experience!
Photographing Tanya and other women over 50 intrigued me. They were different. More comfortable in their skin. Secure in their identity. Confident.
Women of this age are not celebrated enough!
I knew I wanted more of these women in my studio!
Turning 50 is not as scary as I thought. Neither is 60 or 70! All of these women are so gorgeous, and I get the privilege of showing them how beautiful they are.
"Your question around being fearful of photos made me think about the value of photos. My parents both passed in the last 24 months. It’s still very difficult to think they are not in our lives today. I often want to pick up the phone and call them. Although I cannot call them, I can look at photos of them. Photos that take me back to times we shared together.
Photos where I can still look into their eyes and I can see their smiles.
A couple of months after my Dad passed (he passed after my Mom), we came across an old leather suitcase. Inside were over 100 photos going back to their baby photos — what a treasure to find! I have since taken digital copies of many of the photos — something I will pass down to my Son.
When I am feeling sad and missing them, I can bring them back to life through photos. Often you hear people say “not now - I am not ready to take a photo” -
if we knew that photos would be the only way of capturing our lives for generations to come would we think differently?
Would it matter whether our hair was perfect or whether we were dressed in a certain way? Likely not..."
Tanya heard about 30 Days of Gorgeous from a friend (you may have seen Michelle's blog, but in case you haven't, here's the link).
"I absolutely love the idea of photographing women of all ages. It’s this diversity and appreciation for beauty at all ages that appealed to me and made me want to get involved."
Thank you for getting involved Tanya! And thank you Michelle for sharing what I do.
Even better than finding a suitcase of photos is seeing those photos proudly displayed so they can be enjoyed now and in the future. And let's be honest, future generations might not find a suitcase at all.
I shudder to imagine if digital photos were a thing back in the 80's when I was growing up.
My parents would have a drawer full of 5 1/4 and 3 1/2 floppy disks that I can't read on any computer today.
Is it even possible to get the files off of a floppy disk now? Even the CD and USB are already fading out of favour for memory storage and most computers do not come with CD drives or USB ports. And cloud storage? Are your kids going to have your password to access all of your online photos? Will they even know where to look?
This is where my passion for print comes from. Our strongest memories are often tied to photos. The idea of losing those memories to a hard drive failure or obsolete technology is heart-breaking.
If a photo is important to you, print it.
Period.
That technology has not been beat in over 100 years!
Laurie xo
shoot.print.love.laurie
''Do it''
Get in front of the camera!
0 Comments