Gearing up for Montclair State University Exhibition…

Dani says: So excited to be going to Montclair State University for Women’s History Month. RBU will be at Life Hall from March 1st till the 31st! The women I interviewed were amazing and I can’t wait for them to see themselves on screen. For this show, we also added a video-based gallery in addition to the live photographs that will be hung. I can’t express the depth of the gratitude I feel for all of the real stories that the women shared, their openness, and the tremendous heart they showed. I love my Montclair Girls thru and thru!

❤

Introducing Michele F.

It is my pleasure to introduce you to Michele F.  I hope that through her story you will find inspiration!

Michele F: “I had a subscription to Seventeen magazine when I was 12 and can remember trying to recreate looks in my bathroom mirror.
Wishing my hair curled like hers, my eyes wider, legs slimmer.
I strived to attain that perfection on the page.
I always considered myself confident but the physical comparisons I made between myself and others never really left me.
25 years and 2 kids later, I find myself bombarded with images of physical perfection. Specifically, an image of a mom holding a new baby surrounded by her other 3 or so kids.
She was fit, ripped, and had a caption reading, “What’s your excuse?”
And I found myself wondering that too.
Then Dani called and wanted to take my picture 5 weeks after baby #2 was born sans makeup.
“Uh, no.”
Except this project stuck with me and I couldn’t help but wonder, “What if I said ‘yes’?”
What if rather than complaining about the Photoshopped images we are bombarded with each day, I was part of showing the real woman.
Who loves her family, herself and her body.
The body that pulled me out of a 4-year illness with nothing but self-exploration, nutrition and herbal supplements.
The body that helped turn a 100-year-old run down house into a home.
The body that created carried and delivered 2 amazing children.
Children who are completely unique and their own.
A daughter that I hope never knows the word diet. That picks clothes because they express her individuality not hide her “problem areas.”
A son that will see a woman’s smile and want to know her heart and what it feels like to be loved so completely by another human being.
Who won’t choose where to look for that love based on a jean size.
What’s my excuse?
I don’t have one.
I live, I love, and I appreciate my body.
Every pound, every inch, split ends, wrinkles, freckles, and cellulite.
I can say this now because I saw how beautiful I can look.
Without the mask.
Without the smoky eye.
No Photoshop.
Dani showed me how beautiful I was.
Just as I am.”

Introducing Krissy…

Krissy: “I learned about makeup while playing dress-up with my sister. She was much older then me and I was her rocker Joan Jett doll, so make-up was introduced to me very young.  I remember growing up and getting a tinker bell make-up kit with all the glittery powder and blush and, for the first time, I felt so grown up!

It was years later–when I was about ten–while watching an old movie that make-up really became a forefront in my life. I saw beautiful women on the screen with these white, curly wigs and big gowns from the 1700’s getting ready for a ball. I noticed that they would always pinch their cheeks before presenting themselves in public. Why on earth would anyone ever do that? But then the older lady in the movie explained, “Pinch your cheeks and you will be more attractive to the boys.”  And thus the journey with make-up began.  My first venture was taking my mom’s blush to school without her knowing and applying it in the girls’ bathroom before class started. I was always scared that someone would catch me, or worse, think I was joining the circus.

Now in my early 30’s, I see make-up as an enhancement to the beauty that you already possess.  Beauty is the way that you treat people, it’s the compassion that you have towards others, and therefore, it is a combination of your character and your outer beauty.”

“Beauty is only skin deep. You can be the most physically attractive individual, but if you have an ugly personality, then it doesn’t matter. Being a good person with a kind heart will exude itself and that “real beauty” will show on the outside, too!”

Listen to yourself…

Hi, my name is Dani. I am a photographer who really believes in photographing the real, the messiness of life, the things that imprint a memory and create a feeling.  I love getting into a person’s world and capturing the essence of that moment and that person.

Real Beauty: Uncovered was started years ago when I started to rediscover who I was. Going through some rough patches in my life taught me so many things about myself and who and where I wanted to be. I remember the journey took me back to Chile, where I was born and where I feel the most at ease and myself. This trip filled my soul and reminded me of things that I had forgotten, including learning the things that I liked and disliked. At that moment, I started to come back to from the place to which I had gone after taking a wrong turn, remembering to learn all the lessons that were in front of me.

After my journey, I stand strong, non-critical, and loving. Knowing that all the decisions that were made, were made for my children and myself.   It’s not easy to take a different road in life and some people may not understand why.  But the important thing is to trust.  Trust the journey in front of you.  Trust that you, too, are beautiful with all the flaws you have.  Trust that you don’t have to look like that image of perfection you have ingrained in your head, because you are your own perfection.

Real Beauty: Uncovered are the stories beyond the photographs of real women–and they will help you understand that beauty comes from within a woman. It is a project that focuses on capturing life and exploring the beauty of what is sincere.

Come and take that journey with me and join all of the brave women who have volunteered for Real Beauty: Uncovered!