For the past several years I’ve have had many people tell me that everyone on my website is beautiful. I agreed because of course I think there is beauty in everyone. I didn’t think much about it because when I photograph someone I “see” their beauty through the interaction of telling the story of who they are through a photograph. This definitely can be physical, but more often than not it’s deeper than that: it’s the inner beauty that I somehow seek and find and once found, it can shine through a person’s eyes. It’s the very “spark” that creates a connection between the viewer and the person they see in the picture.

But what I came to realize most recently is that many young women felt that perhaps they weren’t “pretty enough” to look like “that” in a photo; there was, in fact, a feeling of intimidation and unworthiness to come to a photo session for senior portraits. This realization was really sad to me because the truth of the matter is this: MOST women, of every age, don’t look in the mirror most days and say “I’m beautiful”. No, instead, it’s more common to look in the mirror and see the faults—too fat, too pale, too short, too tall, wide hips, flat chest, too this and too that. The list goes on and on.

When I meet a senior girl at a photo session, she is usually nervous. Pretty normal. Most of us aren’t models so it stands to reason that doing a photo shoot can be nerve-racking. It’s the one day in your life (besides your wedding day) that you hope and pray that it’s a “good hair day”. And then there’s the stress choosing the “right outfits”—will they photograph well? Will I look fat? Enough color and variety? Lots of things to think about and all are common concerns I hear about.

But the one thing I hear TOO OFTEN that really makes me sad is this: “I’m not that pretty and I’m not that photogenic”. Wow. That one is all-telling of the society we live in. Young women are taught that beauty is on the outside and if you have it, your photogenic and if you don’t, well then good luck in front of a camera.

The hard reality is this: almost EVERY GIRL I photograph secretly thinks she isn’t as pretty as the “other girls” on my website. How do I know? They tell me. It’s part of the nervous chatter at the start of many sessions. And it’s the single thing I set out to prove wrong with each young woman I photograph. Because the truth is this: “Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the HEART”. Knowing that, I seek to connect with her HEART. Who is she? What does she like? What is her passion? What makes her laugh? What makes her sad? What matters to her today? All the while, this allows a certain connection and THAT is what makes the inner beauty shine through.

Having said all of that, we launched a campaign to set out and tell the young women we connect with through the internet and otherwise, that EVERY GIRL IS BEAUTIFUL. Everyone is different. Some are tall, some are short. Some are skinny, some are curvy. Some wear makeup, other girls are natural. Some have clear skin, others don’t (and that’s super easy to fix in post editing by the way so why stress about a zit that’s here today and gone next week? It’s superficial!). How  we look on the outside and what we wear should not DEFINE who we are. It simply tells about what we like and the colors and styles we are attracted to. Beauty is who we are INSIDE. Who we are with NO makeup on and who we are on a BAD hair day. It’s how we treat the people we love—and the people we don’t. Beauty is the heart.

I believe EVERY young woman is BEAUTIFUL. I believe it, I look for it and I strive to capture it. I always look for that “something special” in every girl I photograph.

We invited 6 of our 2013 Spokesmodels to join in our EVERY GIRL IS BEAUTIFUL campaign. These are the first 3 and we are very happy to share these images of 3 very beautiful young women who are also seniors for the class of 2013!

Meet Kendall, Maddie and Jordan—and yes, all three of them are BEAUTIFUL:

TREND ALERT: COLOR IS BIG, BIG, BIG THIS SUMMER! We chose lots of colorful accessories for this shoot—fun head bands, sunglasses, fresh flowers. Makeup by Sara Williams—with extra color punch!