What is the magic that happens when we finally leap and say, “YES!”
Yesterday I showed up for a photo shoot with the brilliant Mary Ann Halpin. For a while now I’d felt that the head shots I’d taken a few years ago, though gorgeous, were not really who I was anymore. And especially as I began working on this piece, felt jarring to my senses.
So when Mary Ann opened the door to a special session with her that included two set ups I thought I could do one new head shot and one shot that was about this project.
What a journey it was working with her. Her great spirit, exquisite craftsmanship, and especially her ability to create a safe space to reveal…
And the magic that happened because I’d said yes. Inspiration flowed for both of us as I picked out my old wedding dress to wear, showed her the tattoo of the hawk on my back, and dared to take it down to the skin and the soul during the photo shoot.
I look at the photos intended for Skins (book cover? flyer?) and I am amazed by what she was able to capture. I love them. Ego? Maybe a little – they are beautiful photographs. But much more importantly because they reflect the long journey I have taken to get here. Because they reveal so much more than what I let the world see. Because in them, finally, I see who I am when I am not afraid.
That is what I want to take into the creation of “Skins I Have Worn” – fearlessness, nakedness, truth, vulnerability, and power… Because power is also what I saw when I was not afraid.