A portrait.
Dear Friend,
Happy 2024.
I want to say I hope you have an amazing year - but we all know life - well life’s and there will be days during 2024 that are not great, so I wish for you to be kind to yourself, to have the trust and love for yourself that you know how to navigate with curiosity, creativity and kindness towards yourself the days that are not great and to experience and soak in with gratitude the fabulous days.
If I learnt anything from 2023 is to create opportunities to love, to show love, experience love, and to share love.
In 2021, I started a project that I loved it was called the 100 women project, I was on a mission to photograph 100 women. I photographed 13, I gave up because I was exhausted from trying to convince women to have their portrait taken, I lost the energy and the enthusiasm of the project when continually coming up against protests from women in how they hate having their photo taken.
I am going to finish the project this year, the parameters have changed.
I will only be photographing women who are over 40, I am offering in person sessions and also remote sessions - so anyone in the world can join the project.
Why am I doing this?
I am over 40, I want to spend time with other women over 40. 40 to 100.
I personally felt a shift the year I turned 40, there is a specific date 13th November 2019 that I remember with great clarity that I decided I would only be doing things I loved, my attitudes towards things changed, my body has changed, relationships have changed.
Over 40 is a time when kids are growing, our hormones are changing, our tolerance for things we may have endured for years is now non-existent, it is a time when our health asks to be paid attention to, our marriages/ relationships are ending or we are in another stage of getting to know our significant other, we transition from looking after our own children to perhaps grandchildren and our parents. We can not stand the thought of going one more day to the job we have been in for years and we have the courage to change our income source. Wisdom and knowledge is voiced and we shock ourselves that we know what we know, our intuition is heightened and we are have the opportunity to deepen that connection.
The photo sessions can be in person if you are local to me otherwise I am also offering remote photo sessions via an app.
The photos that I will be capturing of every woman that participates
a portrait,
her hands,
her spine,
her chest and throat.
Other than that we just have fun and collaborate in a photo session and you get the photos at the end. It will be about half an hour, a selection of photos will be shared on my Instagram, Pinterest and website. Eventually a book maybe created from the project but I ask you in a questionnaire if you consent to one photo potentially being in a book.
I have a lot of women who read this weekly email that fit the age requirement for this project so I will include the Pinterest board link and the Calendly link here as well if you would like to sign up. ( I HOPE YOU DO).
PINTEREST BOARD - FOR INSPIRATION
OR LEAVE A COMMENT OR REPLY TO THIS EMAIL WITH ANY QUESTIONS
For any women over 40 who have a photography/ creative business and is wanting to sink into mentoring conversations for 12 weeks, I have an open diary. I have sessions available starting next week the 9th January. These sessions are a weekly/ fortnightly conversation for your business or creativity to receive lots of loving attention, it is for accountability, celebration, planning, or the conversations are can be just for you and whatever you want to connect with - sometimes these conversations make the most impact. Reply to this email or DM me on Instagram to start the conversations.
I have mentioned in the last few emails the journals I have created for women to work with, think on, connect with. I have been selecting questions for my morning writing sessions and this morning I felt a huge shift in mindset, perspective, and what I am doing. For me this practice is cleansing and offers a sense of freedom.
Have a great week and I look forward to connecting with you in one of my offerings.
Melinda.