Beauty Does Come in All Shapes and Sizes

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending an evening of the Elevate Dance Chicago festival at the Dance Center at Columbia College in Chicago. The concert was made up of 4 different local groups and all of them were fantastic in their own way, but I am still thinking about the last group of the evening – Ayodele Drum and Dance. Their mission is to foster community from a feminine perspective through the study and performance of diasporic African drum and dance. The energy and spirit in their dance was palatable. I could feel their joy of life from my seat. And this was the most diverse group of body types I have ever seen at a dance concert. It was fabulous to see a celebration of all shapes and sizes!

I have written a lot about body image, both in my book and in my blogs (here and here). It’s such an important subject and an important issue for women to come to terms with. My philosophy is that as a woman in my 40’s, life is really too short to be obsessed with being something that I am not. It’s a time to truly embrace the body God has given me and enjoy my life!

During my recent chat with photographer Tristan Anderson, of course this subject came up. His business is about making women feel beautiful, loved and comfortable which leads to him being able to capture their very essence in portraits. He enables his clients to get past their vulnerability and let their gorgeous selves shine through.

We both agree that it’s really sad that in 2017 there is still a stigma around being more than a size 2. The average size of an American woman is size 16. And when Vogue allows a size 4 on their pages, they think they are being diverse when nothing could be further from the truth.

Although Tristan is quite trim at the moment, he grew up significantly overweight and around his mother and other women in his life who were also heavy, so he does understand. And for his own challenges, he believes weight was never the problem. The problem was not loving himself. And true to the way he recommends a regimen of self-love and self-care before a portrait session, Tristan believes in taking care of ourselves and our bodies each and every day. Use a lovely moisturizer on your skin. Get regular massages. Embrace what you perceive to be flaws. Be kind to yourself. Every. Single. Day.

Imagine taking a whole day to be pampered, to celebrate your beautiful self and the result is a series of portraits that allow you to truly see just how beautiful you are! I think that sometimes we can’t see what other people see in us. A portrait session can fix all of that and more. Consider booking some time with Tris today. You deserve it.

xo

And a very special deal for my readers! http://www.trisanderson.com/dating-collections

Mention that you saw these deals on Anne’s blog and get:

Collection 1: $100 OFF
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The images used for this blog post Tris’s amazing clients that have allowed Tris Anderson Photography to use their images in marketing and/or social media. However, may not have selected this Dating Package for themselves.