THE SUM OF OUR PARTS // INDIANAPOLIS EMPOWERMENT PHOTOGRAPHER
So many times I hear the words “If you tried to photograph me I’d just end up looking like this”, accompanied by what is perceived to be the most awkward poses and expressions ever. Here’s the thing: EVERYBODY looks like that. There’s not a single person I’ve ever photographed who doesn’t. The beautiful portraits I share? THOSE are the in between moments. THOSE are the quiet moments between when real life is happening. The quiet moments between speaking, breathing, laughing, crying and LIVING. They are the exception, not the rule. We are humans. We move, we speak, we have emotions. Life is fluid and so are we. Photography is still. STILL. That means we are freezing moments in our real, emotive, fluid lives. Of COURSE we are going to capture the human form in all of its shapes. We aren’t plastic dolls, no matter how much our system wants us to feel like we need to be.
We are also our own worst critic. We are our own worst enemy when creating a
narrative on our own worth.
We need to stop this shit.
Life is not staged nor should it be. There was a time before phone cameras and social media when, at most, we all had snapshots of life from a roll of 24 exposures, 36 at best. We were (mostly) happy to have those memories captured on film…even if they were blurry, even if we were doing something ridiculous, even if we weren’t posed and everything wasn’t staged. Because life wasn’t staged. Life ISN’T staged. Nor should it be. Unless we’re talking about that one roll of film I shot of my Cabbage Patch Kids posed across 24 exposures. That was very much staged. But we weren’t taking photos for the ‘Gram. We were taking them so that we could have those memories for years to come. Not for the whole world to see and judge.
So, what do you say we start making a promise to ourselves to embrace the imperfect? Can we all do that? Start looking at ourselves through the eyes of those who love us for all that we are. Let’s start practicing using THAT lens to see ourselves instead of that fucking ridiculous one of social media and social expectations.
We are all imperfectly beautiful humans, every last one of us.
We are all greater than the sum of our parts.
