invincible

 
One of my favorite moments in being a portrait photographer would have to be witnessing the visible transformation that occurs when someone I’m photographing suddenly feels and reveals the full gloriousness and power of who they truly are. I’m not talking about ego stepping forward and shouting out, “damn, I look good!”, as that is something altogether different. What I’m describing is more a moment of trust. A moment of knowing.

Every interaction we have with another human being can either be expansive or restrictive depending upon how we choose to see them and how we allow ourselves to be seen in return. One of the greatest lessons that photography has taught me is the capacity we all have to look beneath the obvious and discover the multitude of buried jewels every soul harbors within.

This seven year old girl is truly remarkable, and I almost missed the opportunity to discover this fact. It was at the end of her mother’s maternity shoot, where she’d been so polite and agreeable it was easy to place more attention on her younger siblings and of course the baby in her mother‘s belly. I was tired from both a long shoot and a very busy weekend of photographing, and looking forward to wrapping things up quickly.

Still I decided to take just a few shots of the girl as her parents prepared the exhausted younger ones to return home. Her expressions during the session had been either ultra-reserved or typical of the age “cheesy”, but as I sat and listened to her one-on-one, I was soon blown away by her maturity, insightfulness and depth of character. I grew excited to photograph her further, seeing her anew as I did.

Earlier in the session she’d been content to fade into the background and not call attention to herself at all. But in the moments leading up to this image I experienced the rush of observing the shift that occurs when someone goes from feeling invisible to invincible. She is direct, she is unwavering in the certainty of who she is, and she is glorious.

 
~Cynthia