I have very mixed feelings about selfies. On the one hand, it feels extremely vain to take a picture of yourself and then post it on the internet. On the other hand, sometimes you feel great and want to share that feeling with others. Millenials have often been described as having high rates of narcissistic traits, which doesn't come as much of a surprise. We were raised to put ourselves first, to believe in our dreams and told that we could achieve them no matter what. We tend to feel entitled and like the world owes us something for nothing. I struggled with this last year as I was job hunting. I felt like because of my education I should start out with a higher paying job that what seemed to be available. I think it's also due to laziness, but I so desperately wanted to avoid starting at the bottom of the ladder and "working my way up."

As a photographer it's my goal to make others feel good about themselves. There are two extreme ends of the spectrum: either you love taking selfies and posting them all the time, or you dread the idea of your picture being taken and then posting it online. I've worked with several clients who have shared that they are working on feeling more comfortable in their bodies and looks and more comfortable sharing that confidence with others. When I share with them the finished product of our photoshoots, I love to hear the client's reaction.

The other evening I worked on taking self portraits with my DSLR. It was way more nuanced that I anticipated, and I spent most of the time feeling frustrated with the focus/clarity, exposure, set up within my apartment, and then my face being the focus. I nagged at myself with several of the expressions that I made. I wanted to give up and scrap the shoot. But the more I played around with it, the more I got comfortable and confident in it. From that shoot, with it's wide range of emotions, I came out with three of my most favorite pictures of myself. I'm posting them here (and Instagram) because I love how they make me feel. I love my freckles in them; I love my hair in them; I love the simplicity of the black and white...

I love this work of photography.

xxo