After nine months of full time photography school, my class celebrated yesterday morning with a small graduation ceremony. It was a nice moment’s pause, an opportunity to reflect on the growth we’ve experienced in such a short amount of time – sometimes with rather noticeable growing pains, other times with a surprising amount of finesse. It also served as an important reminder to continue to cultivate the artistic side of ourselves, knowing that our businesses will grow most in times when our creative souls are nourished.
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women helping women
I recently took on a multimedia project for The Pregnancy Aid Center: a non-profit, community-based women’s health organization that provides services for low-income and uninsured women in the DC-metro area. It was a fortuitous pairing, not only because I was able to donate my time and creativity toward a worthy mission, but also given my longstanding interest in exploring the commonalities and differences of the maternal/parental experience across cultures, social groups, and socioeconomic divides.*
plus one makes three
Anyone who knows me will not be terribly surprised that expectant mothers are among my favorite subjects to photograph. I’ve always been fascinated by the capacity of the female body to transform and sustain new life. It’s such a precious time, full of moments just begging to be memorialized: the sound of the heartbeat on the fetal monitor, the flutter of the quickening. It can also be tremendously strenuous on the body, and by the time we meet around 32-36 weeks to document the experience, we may be faced with swollen joints, restrictions in mobility, and a subject who tires rather quickly.
the beautiful unknown
I woke up this morning to a startling realization: today is my final day to hide behind the title of ‘student.’ Tomorrow, I am a business owner. An entrepreneur. A creative. A photographer.
And despite the trepidation, there is something delicious about the way those words float across my tongue. No more qualifiers – just me. Taking a leap, and waiting for the net to materialize below. Daring to fail, and loving every second of that terrifying and beautiful process.
