I’m super excited to announce this new project I’m working on and excited to invite my senior models to be a part of it! As a creative, I often find myself needing a creative outlet. Last year I decided to release creativity in a medium I knew nothing about and started painting. It was incredibly fun and thoroughly therapeutic to just allow myself to create without expectations or a need to prove myself. I simply chose colors and allowed my mind, heart, and hands to guide me.

But this year I decided I needed to find a way to create in my own medium – photography. I have this amazing equipment and wonderful gift to capture people, but I wanted to find a way to take it a step further. I had purchased an educational program over my Christmas break and was listening to the speaker talk about her artwork and how she gets inspired, and I was watching her create these fascinating pieces with photography and photoshop manipulation. And it occurred to me… what I ultimately try to do with my photography is tell people’s stories. But what if I literally took that a step further and actually tried to represent their story visually in my artwork? And that’s how The Your Story Project was born.

The idea behind this project is a collaborative art expression. I want to sit down with my clients and help them figure out what story they have that they want to visually convey, and then we’ll work together to find the perfect way to express their personal story.

I actually created a piece for myself to illustrate what I’m talking about and it was incredibly liberating, freeing and cathartic to do. My piece entitle, “The Girl Who Gave Too Much,” is kind of serious and I had to have assistance from my husband to get the shots I needed. While it felt a little silly acting out what I wanted to portray, the end product is so perfect – in my mind – because it visually shows something I have felt in my life. And now I can share it with others.

My hope is that everyone who takes part in this project will have the same experience – a feeling of liberation and the joy of seeing their story visually portrayed in photographic art! My personal goal is to create enough of these pieces to be able to put together a big unveiling and art exhibition later this year for everyone to see!

I cannot even tell you how excited I am to see what creative pieces we can create together! And to see the unique and awesome stories I will get to share this year! Stay tuned to see the awesomeness as it unfolds!