The Story Of You - Emma

Content Warning: These stories contain mentions of body dysmorphia, body image struggles, pregnancy loss, fertility struggles and gendered violence. If you find any of the below triggering, please find a list of helpful and free resources below:

DV/SV: 1800 RESPECT

Mental Health: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/

Eating Disorders and Body Image Issues: Butterfly Foundation 1800 ED HOPE

Emma is a 10/10 bombshell and certified badass. She is gentle, warm, observant, cheeky, and  “still fighting the battle of loving her body,” but you can tell she’s been everyone else’s strength for years. She came to our studio for her Model Call (plus couples shoot with her husband) a quiet, capable energy that says she knows how to hold everything together, even when the stakes in the outcome felt so high for herself.

She hoped to push herself to do something she had longed to do for so long, but feeling self conscious had held her back.

Emma spent most of her life at war with her reflection. A body that’s carried babies, weathered illness, been punished, pushed, rebuilt and doubted, and through it all, still gets up and keeps going. For eighteen years she’s lived in the gym, teaching others how to move their bodies while quietly fighting to make peace with her own. It’s a strange thing, to know so much about strength and still feel unworthy of it.

When she came in for her shoot there was still an inner voice saying ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING!??”  She was excited, terrified, and hopeful all at once. But then something shifted. As the camera came up, her guard came down. There she was.

Her husband joined her at the end. You could see the way he looked at her; that kind of love that doesn’t need words. When they came back for their viewing, she was bracing herself. There’s always that fear of “what if I still can’t see what they see?” But then the images came up. And she did.

Below you’ll find Emma’s post-shoot reflection which I think says it all. Emma’s experience was such a special one and she’s really left her imprint on us, as I’m sure she does everyone.

“I booked this with every intention to step out of my comfort zone and, my God, it did just that. I was so incredibly nervous. I was worried I wouldn’t look or feel anything like I’d hoped. I wanted to love these pictures. I wanted to love the experience. But taking the step to actually do the shoot was so much harder than booking it!! But I did it… and it was magical. I was nervous, but with the guidance of a photographer who absolutely is a goddess in human form - she helped me feel not just beautiful but a goddamn fucking goddess myself. I felt sexy, radiant, and just goddamn powerful in this stretched skin I’d been abusing for so long. ‘

But did that confidence come out in the photos? I wanted to love them. I needed to love them… And I did, I loved every one that was captured. Instead of just going ‘oh god look at my rolls’ (which I still did initially), I saw all the best parts of myself. I saw myself how others, specifically my husband, sees me. I see the beauty in the body I’m in and I fell in love with it. I still have some more healing to go but this has helped me so much. Who knew stepping out of your comfort zone could do that?”