Ellie and I couldn’t be more different. She’s a soulful woman who casts a gentle, understanding, open gaze. She exists in constant motion, a classically trained dancer- tall, elegant with strawberry red hair. Every movement from making coffee to driving to laughing is accomplished with an air of elegance. It’s no wonder children are drawn to her- she’s a walking princess, whimsical and soft. She’s also got a bit of a vintage edge- a ballerina who can be found barefoot in jeans or in leather boots with bright pink laces.

She challenges me, causes me to pause, re-examine my angles. Our portrait session was a dance in itself- I wanted to capture her whimsical nature, but also to push aside the masks we all wear. Those masks that hide our most tender and vulnerable parts of the outside world. A typical portrait session wouldn’t have pulled these masks back for Ellie. I think when we booked our session that we needed to dance. She needed to dance out joy and pain and turmoil and shifting emotions and I needed to dance through my angles, dance through my own preconceived notions of what our art together was going to be.

Portraiture is so much more- so much more- than something to use as a profile picture or smiling awkwardly at a camera. Portraiture is meant to discover- to unlock. These sessions are meant to be a therapeutic exaltation of the self. The session itself is mean to be an act of self love, of recovery, of claiming oneself. The images after will be proof of this process, of strength. These images will be generational pieces of the self.

If you’re interested in booking your own unique self love portraiture session feel free to inquire with me here.