abrianna | sacred roots

I remember the balmy day that I met Abrianna. I was feeling dry creatively for the past few months and was excited to get my feet wet, both figuratively and literally. These sacred roots sessions just cannot be planned out, they tend to unfold as we go along and it is the most truly magical experience. This was surely the case that day.

I waded in the cool waters, my clothes swirling around my knees. I sat in the earth smelling of rain and climbed up the majestic roots that beckoned me to inhale the tree that towered overhead. My art flowed out of me like the river itself.

Abrianna is much younger than I am but her ability to just sit with herself and just be was like that of a woman who had lived a full life already. Every shot I took I was just gasping at her beauty and at the confidence blooming from her core.

I was so impressed that a woman at the cusp of such change in her life would make it a priority to make having these pictures taken of her a reality. I know she will look back on these for all her days and I hope she will see what I see. A timeless beauty that is deeply rooted.

sacred roots | jan

Many years ago I photographed Jan, an homage to the hard work she had put into her body and into her life. She was cut and tight and strong and no one could take that from her. Just freshly emerging from a season that was incredibly painful, she had hardened. She looked damn good though. The pictures turned out amazing. I remember leaving the session feeling so empowered and excited about the images we captured. Little did I know that Jan was at the peak of a serious eating disorder. The control over her body had reached a dangerous point, her harm of self out of control, and it was not long after our session that she was admitted into a rehab for treatment.

Fast forward to this Summer.

She came to me so bright and in her body…like it was a home not an enemy. I noticed the new ink on her arm, ”brave”, and thought to myself how incredible it was that she could say that word about herself. We wove in and out of the river, clinging to trees, sinking into the roots and it was magical. I noticed how soft she was, melting into the earth and into herself. I noticed how strong her body still was, confident. We talked about life and how freaking hard it is, she opened her hands to the warmth of the sun. Oh we celebrated. Oh we giggled and squealed in delight. Oh how we sat in the silence of the forest with the stream trickling by.

This is how I want my sessions to be forever. A sighing praise.

selah | the drawing in of family

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:12b

This verse rings so true to me about the Dugdale family.  

Ever since I met Katie and her four young children I was drawn to the gentle way she fostered a strong relationship between them.  I would sit back and watch in awe as they played together and protected each other.  They quickly became one of my very favorite families to be around and truly they have given me such an inspired vision for putting family first and protecting that special bond.

In January, after weeks and weeks of migraines it was discovered that Selah had a golf ball sized tumor at the base of her brain.  At this point in time my children were in the Dugdale's home twice a week and Selah who had increasingly felt worse and worse would spend the times holding my Lucy Miller's hand and playing dolls with her.  A winter storm was fast approaching when Katie texted that she and Selah were taking an ambulance from her MRI to Charlotte to have immediate brain surgery that night.  

Mindnumbing.  Baffling.

I see several posts a day about children with cancer and even though my heart breaks a little more every time, this was one of our own.

They were able to remove the entire tumor and thankfully the cancer had not spread anywhere else.  Still weeks of radiation and months of chemo in  a different state were to follow.  

I have watched this family over the months and no matter what the trial or hardship of the day, they are forever drawing their family in.  Together.  

It was such an honor to capture just a little of that drawing in a few days before they left for the summer.  The girls honored me by posing for my sacred roots project.  

If you would like to help out the Dugdales financially you can donate here:

www.gofundme.com/selahsjourney

You can also follow their journey here:

 www.caringbridge.org/visit/selahdugdale