see real women: really see women Thursday Oct. 4 2007

I have FINALLY gotten a set date for the opening for my exhibit 'see real women: really see women' portraits that I have been working on for almost 2 years now!! Thursday October 4 2007 at the downtown Hartford Public Library, Hartford CT! I am so pumped about this show and to finally be able to share these amazing women I have worked with over the past two years with everyone...The idea came to me in a rush after years of wondering why women have such incredibly low views of their bodies. It always fascinated me, to be perfectly truthful- to see why my thinner, more 'traditionally beautiful' friends were always so down on themselves about their looks and weight, and not in the attention seeking way- they really and truly thought they were overweight and generally unattractive! I am sure I could have helped myself to a healthy dose of self consciousness, I mean, let's face it I am stout like a good dark beer and that's just the way it is! Nothing self- depricating in that statement- just reality. But I am still a beautiful, sexy, capable woman who doesn't need someone else's view of me to boost me up higher than I already am. I still like it, sure! Who doesn't love cat calls and whistles on a hot summer day! And you know what? In Samoa I could be a swimsuit model! I have just decided to ignore that calling in life and shoot weddings that are art, but it's nice to know I always have something else to fall back on.
I digress- so basically I asked each and every woman how they see themselves as their most beautiful- then came up with a way to photograph that. Much more difficult than it sounds, by the way! Some of their answers were more about feelings and abstract ideas than a tangible, easy to shoot way...but I loved the challenge and really enjoyed brainstorming ways to capture that with each woman. The super sad part is I only secured funding (from the super duper awesome and prestigious Ann T. & Edward C. Roberts Foundation- a super generous supporter of the arts in the Greater Hartford area) for 25 printed & framed images, and I shot WAY more than that! So I had to edit the show down with the help of a panel of photographers and my awesome husband Dave. It was excruciating for me, as I am absolutely invested 2033% in each image, with each woman and her answer. But it was the best thing for me to step back as far as I could and examine each image with their answers to reveal the strongest body of work as a whole. Man, I can't wait to share this work with everyone!!