Being photographed in our prime

If you follow me on IG, you saw me making a pretty loud statement about when we women are considered to be “past our prime”. (If you aren’t following me, please do HERE!) And thank you Don Lemon for sparking this fire.

According to him, and subsequently “google”, women are in their primes between 28-45.

Saayyy what?

At 28, I had just moved back from Turin, I was lost in life, and looking back, although it was a ton of fun, I was not in my prime – in any way.

So this begs the question, what exactly does it mean to be in our prime? I’ve been doing some research, and at it’s most basic, being in one’s prime, means being at your best. But.. best what? At the height of your career? Perhaps when your skin is the tightest due to youth? When one is reproductively healthy? Or at your sexual peak? This may all be part of one feeling that we are living our best life – but there is no age attached to any of these. Viola Davis, Toni Morrison, Vera Wang, Martha Stewart, Julia Child, (and sooooo many more), all found success post 40. Who has the right to put an umbrella number over when women are at their peak.

The day I turned 40, was the day I found myself. It was though I’d been stumbling through life for 20 years, and suddenly, when the clock struck 12 on September 26th 2020, I knocked on my own door. When I opened it, I saw someone who had been hiding for 39 years. It came with it a sense of clarity, confidence, and a sense of knowing, finally, who I was.

Pretty damn powerful.

I wanted every woman to feel this. And so I started photographing women who needed to be reminded of how incredibly badass they were. Every. single. woman who came to me said the same thing: it was the first time they’d been seen. We are so busy as moms, wives, friends, sisters, lovers, business owners, employees, etc, that we get lost. Do you know how liberating it is to have someone see you?

Ms. M was gifted this session with me for her 48th birthday and need I say more? She took this day and made it her own. It was no holds barred. She didn’t hold back, and this is what being a woman is all about – giving it our all. With time, we learn to let go. We see how precious time is, and what is truly important in our lives. And this, my friend, shows in every one of Ms. M’s photos.

Girl, thank you for celebrating with me. For really trusting me and sharing yourself, your fears, your joys, your all with me.

Aniya, xo