Day 92: Visibility Leap
Earlier today I filled out a questionnaire for a photography series I’m participating in. The photographer, Elle Yoon, is hosting a campaign called 40 over 40.
It’s a WHOLE THING!
She has organized hair and makeup, does a style consult, is creating a magazine with all of the participants and will also host a gala at the end of February.
I can’t believe I’m participating. But I also can believe it. I’ve always wanted to do something like this but was too chicken shit to do it on my own. But now here we are. A perfect campaign designed for women to see themselves and allow themselves to be seen. It’s kind of terrifying, but also exhilarating.
The photographer is an amazingly talented artist. I started following her after she did a headshot session at a Galentines event in February. I love her IG! She’s authentic, extremely talented, and her passion and excitement come through in her content. I really fell in love when she shared in her stories about a solo trip she took to Vegas for a photographers conference. Everything she shared was so relatable. Introverts be introverting. But, passionate introverts also be showing the f up when there is an amazing opportunity to hone her craft.
She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s who I want to hire for my son’s portfolio if he gets serious about being a model. Her work is stunning.
We’ve had some great exchanges in the DM so I’m already familiar with her and feel like the shoot wont be awkward. We will see though! I can surprise myself with how awkward I can be. Ha!
I think if I hadn’t got the Hashimoto’s diagnosis I probably wouldn’t have agreed to do this. But there is something very urgent about wanting to have your physical appearance encapsulated in time when you know it’s likely only going to go downhill from here. That sounds horrible and defeatist but it’s how I feel. As I’ve also mentioned, I feel run down and am having a difficult time with the diet changes so the idea of doing this right before Christmas seemed like a gamble.
I regret not doing something like this in my 20’s.
I did do something similar in my 30’s. It was a collaborative feature for a collection of Alexandria City boutiques. The photographer was an employee at one of the boutiques and I wore clothes from the space. No professional hair or makeup. The blogger wrote an entry with the photos and clothes linked. It was a fun experience but this experience is WAY more elevated.
The questionnaire had some great prompts. I haven’t sent it over to Elle yet because I may have been too honest. Being honest here is easy because I stopped checking the stats after that one time I did. So writing here is like speaking into the void.
If I share my honest answers and they get published in the magazine, that’s a bare minimum of 39 women reading it. Along with looking at my pictures. It takes a lot of trust to believe that the artist behind the production will paint you in a positive light. Because it could potentially serve them more to not.
Will February Marcia look back on December Marcia and be like, “what the actual f?” or will she think, “past Marcia had enough faith and courage to trust that everything would work out in her favor.”.
I’ll sleep on it and we’ll see tomorrow!
