When Satu and I sat down to have our face-to-face getting-to-know-each-other-chat, I knew her and I would get along just fine.
She had been emailing me for a while and shown such openness and trust towards me long before we’d ever met.
This always speaks so highly of people: when they’re willing to be vulnerable and candidly open.
Satu was that from the get-go.
She’s had a tough past but she’s learned a lot.
Satu is now 54 years old and proud that she’s come a long way from how she used to be.
However, she still doesn’t enjoy being in photographs.
The fear about photography
Her main concern are her teeth. She doesn’t like them and she definitely doesn’t like seeing herself smile or laugh in photographs.
She specifically remembers this one photograph where the shadow falls on her face in a way that accentuates her teeth. And she strongly dislikes that photograph. That’s also one of the reasons why she hasn’t liked being in photographs anymore.
Although I thought, “but there’s nothing wrong with your teeth!”.
And this is usually how it is.
It’s not really ever about our physical appearance, because truthfully, we can all find something in us that we don’t like.
But it’s about how we look at it.
I like to say that the way you see yourself is not the ONLY way to see you.
What a comforting idea, isn’t it!?
There are people out there in the world, some that you know, some that you don’t, that look at you and admire you for those precise qualities you think are horrible.
But let’s do it anyway!
On the day that we were having our photoshoot, the sun was out and it was a totally gorgeous day.
She told me straight-up-front that she’s nervous.
That’s okay. It comes with the territory.
I like to start the photoshoots slowly, to let my beautiful clients get used to it.
We did a little relaxation exercise and started off sitting next to the water.
Satu was amazing!
She got the hang of it so fast and I could visibly see her relax.
Later she told me how positively surprised she was about my ability to make her relax. She was so nervous, she wasn’t sure I could!
And that’s really the number one thing: to relax.
But it’s my job to relax you in front of the camera. And I work so hard to do that.
Sometimes it works especially well –>
(Haha! I just love her in these photographs.)
The entire time I spent with Satu was amazing. She’s an incredible woman and I’m so happy and privileged I got to meet her, get to know her and photograph her.
Once she saw the photographs of her teeth exposed, she actually liked them. “Oh, they don’t look so bad at all!”
:)
Thank you, Satu, for reaching out to me and for baring your soul to me.
With so many hugs, and much love,
Erika