How does it get any better than this?

This is an amazing young woman whom I met while

teaching "Light Writers", a program I started 6+ years ago, 

where I teach digital photography to

teens of all abilities.

She asked me to photograph her with her swimming gear.
She is a dedicated athlete 

and swims at the Special Olympics level.

She is also a prolific and very talented photographer.

I love my job and days like today! How does it get
any better than this and...
how did I get so lucky?

Why do we always do this?

Who do we let define our beauty? For some it may be our immediate circle; our friends and family, the ones we love. But for most it’s the mass unknown. The visual bombardment of "beauty". 

When we allow ourselves to be defined by others we give away our power. We need to instead, free ourselves of any self-imposed confines and welcome who we really are.

Beauty has many faces. Love, strength, perceived flaws, despair.

We all have it in us, this ability to shine and be seen. 

When we claim ourselves, we each can reveal the Covergirl within.   

Thank you Doreen, for going along with my ideas and ways I use symbolism to share a message. Such a fun client and beautiful young woman!!

Beyond skin deep...

This is Janet, a recent client - yes she is beautiful, but beyond skin-deep beauty, there is a quality that I usually look for: it can be the strength, a story, vulnerability, or the invisible roots that ground us.

This quality among so many of us is what I LOVE finding, it's what truly gets me excited when photographing people.

I am so grateful for doing what I absolutely love to do!

Time...

I have always been intrigued with time. Photography to me is all about time, and it's what I use to try to bridge and understand it.
This photo was taken a long time ago, but I feel it has transcended time,  it has the same feel now that it had then.
Am stoked because today, was accepted in Vogue Italia!
Would love to photograph Bia again, now.

International Women's Day

We are young,

male and female

we are old

 raw and exposed

we are strong

vulnerable and courageous

Everything and everyone 

comes from us.

Vogue Italia

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