A little big story:
I have been at the hair salon since 10am. It is now 4pm, and a team of 3 specialists are still working on my hair and make-up, putting on the finishing touches. I've been growing pretty restless, as I am not used to this level of pampering, and for this long! I feel like I'm in a make-over movie, only it's real life, and can't skip over the long, boring scenes. But this whole experience was a gift, from my hair stylist to me, and I was pretty excited about it initially. So I breathed through it, and calmed myself down.
It is now 4:30pm, and they are finally done! Thank God!!! I look in the mirror, and yes, I LOVE IT! It's pretty much perfect! It feels a little eerie, as it's all new to me, but it's perfect, and still very natural looking, I must admit! The hair stylist starts taking some photos of me, to capture his work, and he gets in some of the photos as well.
And all of a sudden, sitting there, posing for photos, and seeing my reflection in the mirror, I deeply realize that I look absolutely BEAUTIFUL! And all of a sudden I realize that this beauty that I see before me, in the mirror is welling up from somewhere DEEP INSIDE my being. I get the sense that it nonchalantly lives there, and it's been there all along. But I didn't know it, until I wore it on the outside, until it literally stared me in the face, as if to say: this is who you really are! For the first time in my life, my OUTSIDE appearance PERFECTLY MATCHED my INNER BEAUTIFUL SELF, and the RESULT of this ALIGNMENT was a sense of DEEP INNER PEACE, and a WHOLENESS I have never felt before. I have finally met my WHOLE TRUE SELF!
Backing up about 15+ years:
I received my dual Master's Degree in Structural Engineering and Architecture, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and worked for high profile Architecture firms, serving high profile clients like Google, Apple, Tiffany& Co, Chanel, and many others. I was living the empowered woman's dream, but in the hassle, and importance of it all, something was definitely missing... It was a feeling of alignment, fulfillment, and peace.
So I started searching for that feeling everywhere, in all my daily meditations, and years of self-development, in my Architecture career at first, and then in the quitting of my Architecture career, in hobbies, and travel, and later on, in my Portrait Photography business. And of course, it came in the most unexpected way: from a make-over, of all things!
But after photographing so many women, for over 10 years, it does make so much sense to me that I'd find that feeling in this way... My hair stylist offered me this make-over gift because HE KNEW, and SAW WHAT I COULDN'T. He has masterfully TRAINED for this all of his career, and it became second nature to him. He essentially COAXES INNER BEAUTY, PEACE, JOY, FROM DEEP INSIDE A PERSON, TO RADIATE, SHINE, AND EXPRESS ITSELF ON THE OUTSIDE, IN THE WORLD OF FORM! He can do it with EVERYONE and ANYONE! It's pretty magical... AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I DO AS WELL!
THE EXPERIENCE I offer my clients:
I specialize in BEAUTY, FASHION, and BOUDOIR PORTRAIT EXPERIENCES, for all women, of all sizes, ages, and shapes.
My strong background in Architecture and Interior Design gives my style an ARTISTIC, CONTEMPORARY, FASHION-INSPIRED PORTRAITURE feel, with EXPERT MASTERY of COMPOSITION, POSING, LIGHTING, and IMAGE POST-PROCESSING.
Even more than that, I OFFER my clients an EXPERIENCE of CONNECTING to their INNER LOVE, BEAUTY, ELEGANCE, POWER, CONFIDENCE, and SUCCESS, thru the INTENTIONAL BODY POSES I teach, that are unique, and SPECIFIC to each BODY TYPE. In this way, the INNER SELF gets FREED UP for a moment, to EXPERIENCE itself in the OUTSIDE world, and you get to SEE it, and MARVEL at its MAGNIFICENCE!
I've always loved photographing women, and I've always believed in the power of a Portrait, but at first, (before my hair salon experience), I wasn't sure what true beauty really was.
There was a time when I too had a skewed sense of it, based on our cultural conditioning. But the moment I'd start shooting, and start looking through my camera lens, something magical would happen, and this indescribable beauty would reveal itself to me, from every woman, and I would see it, and I would just get so excited!
I've learnt that beauty always shows itself to me, independent of my client's size, age, or insecurities, and I love that! This is my gift from life, and Portraits are my gifts back to all the women out there. We are all BEAUTIFUL, truly! Let me show you in a PHOTOGRAPH!
I love to say that BEAUTY is that INTENTIONAL, ELEGANT, GRACEFUL way in which a WOMAN'S body ENGAGES SPACE, creating magical OUTLINES, and beautiful CURVES, INSPIRED by her SOUL, EMOTION, and unique PERSONALITY.
It's not about high cheek bones, or skinny bodies, eye color, or perfect complexion, proportional body parts, or high foreheads.
TRUE BEAUTY is really a FEELING OF CONNECTION to a DESIRED EMOTION, (which already lives deep inside of you), by using your body in a certain way, and so EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US HAS ACCESS TO IT! And I'm here to help you access it.
I have been blessed with SEEING BEAUTY in EVERY WOMAN that sits in front of my camera, and with the honor of SHOWING IT BACK to her in a PHOTOGRAPH. This is my GIFT FROM LIFE and I want to SHARE it with EVERY WOMAN!
Please fire off any and all questions to me at nia@thisilovestudios.com. If there is anything I can do to serve you, please just ask
