Who's the Lady?

​When I started this business nearly four years ago, I knew one thing with absolute certainty about what I was setting out to do.
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I wanted to photograph women in a way that told the stories of a woman's soul.

I wanted them to see themselves through the eyes of the creator.

Inestimably valuable.
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Unbelievably beautiful.

The funny thing is, I'm still doing that. But I'm doing so much more. I've realized that Portrait of a Lady isn't just a photography business. It isn't just the name I use as a platform to write about women's issues, photography, and life in general here on the blog . (though I AM currently brewing an exciting post about the un-discussed compatibility of submission and christian feminism!) Portrait of a Lady has become an artistic mantle, a roof sheltering anything and everything I create that links back to the feminine spirit and our pursuit of original beauty. It's an ever flowing conversation, an outpouring of my love for you and a gentle place where I might whisper truth. Years past I would have preferred a bullhorn but thankfully time and community have had a tempering effect on me.

Case in point: the novel I'm currently outlining and researching. I can NOT wait to share bits and pieces of this literary experience with you as it continues to unfold and develop in my mind. The characters I've written down so far are like gorgeous but broken little mosaics of so many things you and I have experienced. Have wondered. Have feared.

So who's the lady in the portrait? In the novel? She is the woman you may or may not even realize you want to be. Were meant to be. She seeks the deep places of life, touches the seam of her scars, creates masterpieces with her tears.

Let's beacon each other. Hold the light for you - for me - when the path is dark. We've all got vines waiting to trip us in the night.

Trivia: did you know that this was the painting that inspired the original small scale sculpture that birthed the creation of the Statue of Liberty? The woman here holds a mirror reflecting the truth from an original source, a concept I find myself preferring when compared to the image we now have of a torch.