Women. Artists. The beauty in the mess.
Women portraits have always been a big piece of my personal work. I have always had a portfolio filled with beautiful smiling women. But earlier this year I found myself questioning the intention of that group of images. In a world full of images of perfectly dressed and airbrushed women, were my images just adding to the room of screaming voices saying "this is what beauty looks like"? Is only the polished version of yourself worth celebrating?
I constantly live in a state of tangled hair, shirts with coffee stains. and a little blush thrown on from a beat up make-up kit. I feel most at home with bare feet and my husbands sweaters. Most at peace when I am lost in my art not squeezed in a formal dress.
And I know I am not alone in this and I want my portraits to honor that more raw and real beauty.
*Thankful for Michelle Gardella's B&W presets for making these images come alive. In her words "These presets and tools are for the ones who feel the fear but never let it stop them. The ones who cherish the imperfect and the brave; the low-key tones; the windblown hair, the muddy fingerprints, and the wrinkled hands." and in my words, HELL YES.