Have you ever been in your element, feeling great... and then someone snaps a photo of you... and when you see it all you can think is:
"Are my [insert body part here] really that chubby?"
"Ugh, I'm such a mess!"
"Eew, look at my smile!"
I've been there too. We all have.
Did you know that:
1- It's totally natural to feel that way. The image we're USED to seeing of ourselves is the one in the mirror... mirror-image of what we see in a photo, and what everyone ELSE sees.
So when we see (what in OUR eyes is) a "mirror-image" of ourselves, it naturally looks "off."
2- We tend to be MUCH harder on ourselves than everyone else is. For a really moving illustration of this, look back to this powerful experiment by Dove soap.
My husband passed when my daughter was 3 months old.
So it wasn't until I hired a photographer-friend to photograph us that I'd ever seen any photos of my daughter and myself (that weren't selfies).
And after our shoot, when I saw our final photos, on seeing this one my first (and horrified) thought was,
"OH MY GOSH! I had no idea my VEINS STUCK OUT like that!!!"
I quickly flipped to the next photo, eager to discard this one.
But later, when viewing the photos with my photographer-friend, she singled this one out and said,
"It's just so beautiful."
Which made me pause.
And realize that it was the first time I'd gotten to SEE the
love and joy and connection
between my daughter and myself.
And it WAS. Truly. Beautiful.
And now, 8 years into my own work as a photographer, I'm suddenly realizing that I'll bet my clients often feel the SAME WAY about their photos...
... seeing them with a self-critical eye, and NOT RECOGNIZING all of the
beauty that I SEE in them.
... and not taking the time to POINT IT OUT is a HUGE DISSERVICE to them... to YOU.
So from now on, I will not leave you alone to let your self-criticism take hold...
together, we will view your photos.
And with together we'll recognize JUST HOW BEAUTIFUL you truly are.
Because
"You are beyond beautiful; you are extraordinary."
And we'll recognize it together.
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