Behind the Shots

Do you ever look at a photo and wonder, what the story behind it is? Who is the subject and why are they getting their photo taken? Where is the location? What does the subject's life look like behind the screen? In this series I aimed to answer these questions by asking my subjects to tell me something they have been struggling with positive or negative. Often times we hide our true feelings and post photos of us at our best which just isn't realistic. I wanted my models to be transparent and share their story. One thing I want everyone to take away from this is that you have value and are so loved. Keep in mind when reading that these are real people sharing about real struggles.

Jesslyn M.

"over the last few years I've really been struggling with knowing who i am. i always felt like i needed to fit in and look like everyone else. i always wanted to dye my hair and buy the coolest clothes. i never felt like i was truly being myself. but over the last 6 months I've finally started finding myself. i wear what i want, do my makeup how i want, listen to the music i want, without fear of being judged. during quarantine i realized that life is so precious and i want to spend my life doing what i want and being who i am. i am who i am and i may have days where i still feel lost and insecure but at the end of the day i’ll only find true happiness if i choose to be myself completely. i want to be remembered as someone who’s confident in their own skin and helps other people feel confident as well. and please remember that you are good enough. you are perfect the way you are and you are so loved."

Anaya D.

"i used to be very insecure about myself, from the way that i looked, to just who i was overall. i'd take all this negativity and take it out on others when i was younger just to feel like i had control. i was so unhappy with my life that putting others down to feel better about myself was all that i could do. but as i grew older and became surrounded by even more people and friends who welcomed me with open arms, i quickly learned that accepting others was one of the best ways to start loving myself. i stopped picking out flaws in people and started focusing on what makes them unique and beautiful. and slowly but surely i started doing this for myself too. i was much more happier and didn't find myself getting so jealous over everyone else. i became comfortable with who i was and wouldn't wanna be anyone else. and even though i have days where i struggle to love myself , it's a battle always worth fighting."

Kayce L.

"When I was little, I began to attend Central Christian Church, but at that time I didn’t really understand faith. Once I was 10 years old I had gotten baptized and had began to change my perspective on how to begin giving back to others. My parents joined the Made for More team which allowed the process of giving back to the community possible. Eventually my life flipped around the moment I was a junior in high school, a challenge came in my way when my parents had moved to Scottsdale and I made a life changing decision of staying and living with my grandparents. When this happened I began to get involved with the student ministry teams such as Student Leadership, Hosting, First Impressions and Wednesday Follow Up Group. I wanted to reach out and found more of a community within my faith journey. I started to go to bible studies, met with my pastor and helped with many different events that were put on. Lastly, I started being in charge of the Follow Up Team and still finding more ways to get involved."