“I had a dream the day before my 20th birthday, an image of myself nude, hugging myself while sitting on a bed. As a photographer that loves self portraits, I felt myself drawn to creating this image, something I wanted to create for myself. Once I photographed myself and completed the image, something changed inside me. I didn’t feel ashamed of being nude in a photograph. I felt beautiful, different, and found a new appreciation for myself and my body. When I posted the image online, I refused to open my computer until the end of the day. I was scared about what people would say, “why is she nude? Is it for attention? What are you trying to prove? Eww she’s so gross.” I’m always quick to assume the worse. To my surprise, when I opened my notifications, I was greeted with nothing but positivity and love from my family, friends, and strangers alike. I cried, a wave of relief came over me, and now every year I take a nude self portrait for my birthday.”

“A year ago, I had another dream for an image, but this time involving two women. I asked my best friends if they would love to participate, and they did. However, I did not know that they were absolutely unsure of doing the shoot. When the time came, I photographed each woman separately and together, and my vision came true. The image was created. Back at home, each girl told me their honest feelings, that they were scared and didn’t know what people online would think of them, just as I had felt with my own session. Once the images were completed, and I showed them the photos, their smiles were unbelievable. They couldn’t believe that they were seeing a photo of themselves, an image that showed their beauty in a way they had never seen before. This is why I do what I do.”

“Because of the success of that shoot, I decided to start The Flower Project, a photo project dedicated to photographing nude women, covered in flowers, and to share personal stories about their lives and experiences. Each women that applies for the project has to go through an interview process and are required to share a small part of themselves with me. Tales of sexual assault, family neglect, depression, suicidal tendencies, my heart yearns to hold each and every one of them. The project has allowed me to restore confidence in other women, to give their voices a chance to be heard, to see them cry when I show them what they look like through my eyes. No feeling is greater than being able to change the life of someone who needs it.”

“If it weren’t for photography, I would not be the person that I am. I found my salvation in self portraits, a way to express the feelings I was undergoing and break out in a form of personal therapy. Through photography, I feel free, alive, and the person that I’m supposed to be. Before I found my interest in photography, I was a model for a short while and photographers that I would work with had no real knowledge of their craft, didn’t practice enough, and would just take pictures, no meaning behind each snap. After every session I would get excited, thinking “wow I can’t wait to see what these photographers were able to create!” When I would receive the images, my heart would sink. The girl in the photos looked nothing like me. I didn’t have skin that glowed like baby dolls, the bags under my eyes weren’t that dark, it was as if the photographer had no idea of what I looked like. Time and time again the same occurrence would happen, and I ended up quitting to maintain the small amount of self-esteem and confidence that I had. The mission for my business is to make anyone that comes to me feel more beautiful than they ever have in their lives. Every day since we got into a relationship, my fiancé tells me everyday how beautiful I am, that there’s no one in the world he would rather be with, and he constantly tries to help me see myself in the way that he does. I’m on my way there, slowly but surely. I want to be a person that feels happiness emitting from every corner of their life. The scars are gone, the pain is gone, the sadness is gone, but my heart remains in the best way.”