We don't advertise empowerment sessions. There's no package for it on our price list, no booking button anywhere on the site. But every so often, someone sits down with us, starts telling us their story, and partway through the conversation we just know, this is what they need.
Every empowerment session is different, because every story is different. Some people want to be photographed with what they've achieved, medals from a marathon they never thought they'd finish, a trophy that represents years of work. Some want to be seen in a body they've fought hard for, finally wearing something they'd only ever dreamed about. Some just want the confidence to be undressed and completely at ease in their own skin, maybe for the first time in years. We never assume what it's going to be. We just listen, and then we build the session around whatever that person needs it to be.
This session was about letting go
One of our favourite empowerment sessions was with a makeup artist we work with regularly, someone who travels with us both in the UK and abroad for other shoots, and who anyone who meets her instantly adores. She's a real character, warm, funny, completely herself, always. But this session wasn't about a look or an achievement. She just wanted to be unapologetically her, in front of the camera, and let everything else go for the day.
So that's what we did. We spent the day laughing, swapping genuine stories, and photographing her exactly as she is, no performance, no version of herself she thought she should present, just her. Some of our favourite images from that day aren't the most technically perfect shots we've ever taken. They're the ones where she's mid laugh, completely unguarded, exactly herself.
Why we love these sessions
These are some of the most meaningful sessions we do, not because they're dramatic, but because of what sits behind them. Everyone who asks for one has a different reason, and hearing the why behind each image, and then trying to capture it honestly, is a genuine privilege. There's no formula for a session like this. There's just a person, a story, and us trying to do it justice.
If you've got a story like this, we'd love to hear it. It might turn into a session, it might just be a conversation, either way, we're here for it.
