"When I look through my camera, I don’t just see pretty images... I see grace, strength, spunk and confidence. I see resilience."
- Irene Abdou
Being a teenage girl and wanting to fit in is hard enough. But now on top of TV and celebrities, teenagers are faced with the constant pressure of social media. Even worse, we know that these social platforms are directly targeting teen girls. Facebook/Instagram has been severely under scrutiny for its in depth research on how the app negatively affects millions of its teenage users.
This is why I started the "Confident Girls, Empowered Women" Project.
As a teen photographer, I want to show girls that they are perfect just the way they are. I truly and wholeheartedly believe that every single person can look not just amazing, but STUNNING and FIERCE, all while looking like themselves. My goal for the project is to photograph 30 ‘teens and ‘tweens grades 6-10, of all shapes & sizes & ethnicities in celebration of the diversity in the Washington, DC metro area.
"Just Dance"
Meet Mia
Mia is one of the inspiring participants of the "Confident Girls, Empowered Women" Project and is an incredibly talented teen competitive dancer. She has been dancing since she was 2 years old with contemporary dance being her favorite! When I asked Mia why she wanted to participate in the "Confident Girls, Empowered Women" Project, she mentioned that her aspiration for this teen photography session was to boost her self-confidence.
Feeling Abnormal While Trying to Fit In
In her "Confident Girls, Empowered Women" interview, Mia talks about the difficulties of being a teenager. She discussed how it feels to HAVE to stay on top of trends, otherwise she won't fit in with her peers, and how she hopes this will get better as she grows into adulthood. For Mia's full interview transcript, scroll down to the bottom of this blog.
Confidence is the Best Outfit
For Mia's teen photography session, we landed on a studio portrait session as well as one of my all time favorite photography locations - Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD. For the studio photography portion, we used two of our amazing fabrics that flowed perfectly with Mia's dance moves. At Brookside Gardens, Mia's parents joined in for some of the session, and we captured beautiful family portraits in additional to Mia's spectacular in-the-air dance photography!
Amelia's "Confident Girls, Empowered Women" Project Interview
Name: Amelia Kaib
Grade: 8
Irene (Dance Photographer):
Tell us a little about yourself. What are your hobbies, passions, and interests? What extracurriculars are you involved in? What motivates you? What makes you happy?
Amelia:
My hobbies are dancing and soccer. Even though I don’t play on a team, I enjoy playing soccer with my friends. I have been dancing for 11 years and I really enjoy it. Not only does it give me a great workout, it gives me a chance to express emotions in a different way and be with my friends as well. My friends, Annika and Melanie and my family motivate me to do the things I do and support me and make me happy. My cats also make me really happy, give me great company, and make me laugh a lot.
Irene (Dance Photographer):
What’s the best thing about being the age you’re at?
Amelia:
The best thing is having a decent amount of free time to do what I want and do the things I enjoy. I get to play outside with my friends or spend my extra time inside playing video games (another thing that I really like). The free time helps me relax instead of working all day and being stressed.
Irene (Dance Photographer):
What’s the hardest thing about being the age you’re at? Do you think this will have changed by the time you’ve become an adult?
Amelia:
The hardest thing is feeling like you have to go along with the things that are popular at the time. Feeling like you look abnormal or weird because other people aren’t wearing the clothes you're wearing when they are the same kind of clothes you have been wearing all your life and didn’t used to feel weird to you. I think that this will have changed by the time I’m an adult because most adults don’t care about the trends going around and almost all adults do what they want and have learned that it doesn’t matter what you wear or how you look like.
Irene (Dance Photographer):
What makes you feel proud or confident?
Amelia:
My friends make me feel confident because they motivate me to do the things I do and make me feel good inside.
Irene (Dance Photographer):
What do you like most about yourself right now? What would your friends say they like most about you?
Amelia:
I like that I can turn my day from being a bad one to a good one if one good thing happens to me.
Irene (Dance Photographer):
What are some of your biggest accomplishments?
Amelia:
Some of my biggest accomplishments are that I got a scholarship at a dance convention and I got straight A’s during the pandemic.
Irene (Dance Photographer):
What did you learn from a recent challenge?
Amelia:
I learned that not everything needs to be done at once, that you can take small steps to get there instead.
Irene (Dance Photographer):
What do you think your future job will be?
Amelia:
I think that my future job will be as a veterinarian.
Irene (Dance Photographer):
What do you know how to do that you could teach others?
Amelia:
I could teach others how to be flexible!
Irene (Dance Photographer):
Why did you decide to participate in the "Confident Girls, Empowered Women" Project?
Amelia::
I decided to be a part of it because I wanted to feel better about myself and I have never done a photoshoot before, so I thought that it would be a cool thing to experience.
Irene (Dance Photographer):
How did it feel to be photographed? Did you have fun?
Amelia:
At first I was nervous but then after we did more photos I had more fun and I had a really good time and enjoyed myself.
Irene (Dance Photographer):
What do you feel when you look at the images?
Amelia:
I felt really good because I was afraid that I wouldn’t like the photos but I ended up loving them and it made me happy to see the family ones.
Irene (Dance Photographer):
What has been the best thing so far about participating in the project?
Amelia:
The best thing has been being able to do different settings and outfits for the different photos so you get to experience a little bit of everything!
Irene (Dance Photographer):
What types of girls would you recommend this experience to?
Amelia:
I would recommend it to all girls because it was a very fun and unique experience for me. I would especially recommend it to girls who need encouragement because it boosted my self esteem and I know it will for others.
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