Thoughts on beauty
In all honesty I very much dislike overly posed and polished photos. That is not to say I never ever pose for my photos or that I don´t instruct my clients how to pose during a photoshoot.
The beauty ideals, trends, what gets the most attention on TikTok and what is the most Pinterest esque photo changes ALL. THE. TIME. It is quite hard to keep up with new make-up trends that are supposed to make your eyes look better or the new posing techinques that will enhance whatever part of your face or body that is currently trendy to be enhanced. Again, I will not try and be a hypocrite. I do love to try out some trends. Like I will admit, my make-up does look better suiting for me when I do it like the “make-up for your zodiac sign” video says.
However, no beauty trend, tips and tricks, life hack, technique or anything will bring you closer to looking beautiful than just you being you. I know it sounds cliché and let me explain.
I have spent years trying to be beautiful and it just never really was happening for me. I do now know I am beautiful and have always looked pretty much the same, but it only started being clear to me once I picked up photography. I started learning camera settings, lighting, composition and editing by taking self-portraits. I had very little knowledge, but a lot of passion and curiosity. That passion, curiosity and excitement when I got the shots right started to be visible in my self-portraits and I started seeing myself totally differently. I saw a whole new light and beauty in me that was always there, but I was just so hard trying to be something and someone else that it couldn´t come through.
I then started to notice the same in others. Even though I couldn´t see myself as pretty and beautiful I was always able to see it in other people. BUT, there is just a different sparkle in a persons eye when they talk to a loved one or talk about something they are so passionate about that they are barely able to keep up with their train of thought. That is one reason I love documentary-style photography and even in portrait photoshoots I try to instruct my clients to dance, run, tell jokes, think about certain type of memories and move to the music (if and when it is possible, we usually listen to my clients favorite songs).
I truly, truly believe that there is no such thing as “not photogenic”. Let me tell you, it is really hard to be photogenic when you are stressed, under pressure or just generally not in the best headspace. That is why in the hundreds of selfies I took in high school to post on Instagram just for my crush to maybe see it didn´t really work. I was so desperately just trying to look good it ended up backfiring. Or when you are taking family portraits at an event and you just heard those questions about a million times. “Did you get into school?” “When are you planning on having kids?” “Are you dating anyone?” And you just smile through all of that for hours until it is time to smile for the photos and since you are on the side of the photo and it is taken with an iPhone, the photo is also distorted and it is just not a good look. These are the moments that make you feel like you are not photogenic.
That is also why I feel like as a photographer it is a huge responsibility and also an honour to break those thought patterns and to be able to show you just how beautiful you are. I like to schedule a lot of time for my photoshoots and build trust beforehand and during the session. Because when trust is built people find it easier to open up to me and especially the camera, which they might feel like have wronged them so many times. I always try to make people comfortable enough to allow themselves to be photographed and seen the way they deserve to be. They can sing, laugh, dance, even cry, be nostalgic, think about memories and people, while I capture their inner light, passion, power, confidence and most important of all, their inner and outer beauty.
This is just one of the reasons I love to photograph, because I love seeing people get excited when they see themselves in a new light. Each time I show photos during photoshoots they always tend to stand just a little more proud and confident. And that is my why.
