Lindsay | THE BEAUTY PROJECT

There are days when all of the hard work and efforts pay off and you’re reminded why you do what you do.  I call that a Pay Day.  As I read Lindsay’s words, I knew that this session was one of the best Pay Days I’ve experienced as a photographer.

When Lindsay contacted me about doing a Beauty Project Session, she had a unique request that I’d never heard before.

She wanted to do the session without her hair.

Lindsay has Alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss.  Her hair loss started when she was five and her mother noticed a bald patch on her scalp.  After various failed attempts at slowing the hair loss with a miscellaneous assortment of medical treatments, she began wearing a wig her senior year of high school.  Now a young married mother of 3 littles, she had her kids in mind when she contacted me.

I asked Lindsay to share a few words about this experience:

“I haven’t had my make-up done professionally in over 6 years, since my wedding day. For someone like me, a mom of 3 small children getting dressed is challenging enough, let alone putting make-up on. At first I was nervous having so much make-up on but when I looked in the mirror for the first time I felt pretty yet ugly, because I didn’t have my hair on. Never in my 37 years have I walked out of my home with nothing on my head…a wig, a hat, a bandana. Today was the day I was going to put myself out there. My feelings? I wanted to cancel the appointment. I felt overwhelmed, nervous, vulnerable, sick to my stomach, insecure, raw…..none of these words sound positive but I wasn’t doing it for me. I was doing it for my children. I was doing it so my children could see that no one is the same, that everyone is different and those differences are what make each individual beautiful inside and out. So they could see that their mom is beautiful, powerful, secure and comfortable in her whole self. Ironically I didn’t feel any of those things….until after I saw the pictures. The first time I saw them on my computer I cringed and looked away. There I was, all of me. It was like I was looking at naked pictures of myself. Then I looked at them again and found some I thought I looked pretty in. Then I looked again and again and again and I saw that I looked beautiful in all of them. It’s funny to me that this is such a big deal to me but isn’t. It’s just hair. I’m not sick. I’m just bald. In our society today hair equals beauty and femininity and I used to feel none of those. It’s just hair and I’m beautiful inside and out. Thank you Wendy for giving me this opportunity to feel so many things, good and bad, in 2 short hours. You did more than take pictures. It was therapeutic and amazing. “

 

I will think of Lindsay whenever I’m faced with doing something scary or uncomfortable or outside of my comfort zone.

She is the epitome of why I encourage all women to a portrait of themselves that reminds them who they are and how beautiful they are inside and out.

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this step in your journey, Lindsay.