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Vancouver Portrait Photography Sessions – What is a Proof of Life Session Anyway?
I used to do video. I decided to re-expolore my past and remind myself that I really feel moving pictures are important.
A “Proof of Life” Portrait Photography Session stems from some philosophical photography stuff I was working through a few years ago. At the time, I was having a lot of trouble marrying the idea that we should look good outwardly to feel good inwardly. I’m talking beyond the basics of bathing and overall personal hygiene. I mean, conforming to our culture’s idea of beauty. Here I was doing these photographs of people where they were overly done up and posed and I felt like I needed to do more. There is definitely merit in these beautiful images; however, I felt myself moving in a different direction.
A lot of self-reflection and insight over the years brought me here: it’s ok if you want to look great. Great can have its own definition for every person. Such as, done up, not done up, casual, Kardashian make-up, a little make-up, no make up. Extra Small, Medium, Large, X-Large, XX-Large, A, B, C, D, DD, HH, etc, etc…. We actually don’t look the way we feel all the time, and that is okay too. We get done up, and become these personas who are simply expressions of different parts of us.
What I have been witnessing in this age of Instagram, Facebook, etc…, is this type of perfection and over-glamourization of oneself and one’s life. I say having a completely normal and mundane life is so much more accessible and relatable. No fantasy life. No need to be the “goal” anything.
“Proof of Life” brings you and all your normalcy into the forefront. Show your future self and future loved ones YOU in your quietest moments. We are not only about all of our achievements, our failures, our travels, what we eat, what we read, what we wear, what we do. We are about the everyday – the majority of our life, our reality. That must be remembered and not taken for granted. Even more, worth loving and documenting.
Check out the old post below this video to see the reconciliation of it all. Interesting….
LOVE. Such a small little word on the page. A big word that stands open waiting to be interpreted and abstracted. A double edged sword used to build you up and tear you to bits in the same breath. Love can also be contagious. It absolutely has that power. I continue to learn a lot about love from others. But it isn’t only from watching how they interact with or feel for others. I observe and listen to how they treat themselves. What do they project out and, alternatively, what do they keep to themselves?
Ultimately, the person who is able to strip it all down and just be who they are without apologizing, or, having to explain, to defend, or, to justify it, is someone who has found it in themselves. There is an honesty to it. Furthermore, I’ve noticed this same person is very present. They don’t necessarily lose themselves in being stuck in the past, propelling too far into the future, being boastful, angry, or defensive. Also, there is very little overthinking. There isn’t a need to prove anything. Ha! So love is about being fearless! Why put up fronts? Who are we trying to protect? Why are we trying to protect? I don’t want to get hurt.
Ah, well, there it is. Loving yourself is liberating. It empowers you to be unafraid. Some think of it as taking a risk when it comes to finding external love. Maybe they haven’t found it in themselves yet? Would we all be more willing and open to receive outside love if we loved ourselves, believed in and trusted ourselves enough to let another person love us back? A lot of the time we are not finding it because we are hoping that this version of “love” will become the thing that we imagine it needs to be to bring us up or to keep us from getting hurt.
Really? Love from another is supposed to make us fearless? I don’t think so. Love from another is like adding more seasoning to an already great meal to push it over the top. So, the idea is, you don’t fall in love; you share it and make it better. Bigger, even.
People who celebrate themselves inspire me. Loving themselves. Openly trusting themselves to be fearless enough to bare themselves and share themselves. This is some of what I witnessed in the process. Big beautiful love. Abstracted, of course!
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