In the Fall of 2018 I met Jon, a wonderful man and photographer. We were paired, at a workshop we were at, for a rather intense exercise...and a friendship was sealed. Shortly thereafter I had the pleasure of meeting his equally awesome wife, and instantly fell in love with her resilient, warm, and grateful spirit. (worth noting here is that while Jon & Holly were here for our first dinner together we received ‘the call’ from the vet saying that our precious, and very ill pup, Dixie, could not be treated...Holly was inimitable in her generous and caring support that night, and I remain deeply appreciative.)

For Christmas that year Jon gifted Holly a gift certificate for a portrait session with me; he’s a skilled photographer but thought she might enjoy the different dynamic of being photographed by someone she isn’t married to. 😉

A few months ago Holly received a diagnosis of Breast Cancer. It was a blow to her, to Jon, and to all of us who care for them. Shortly after receiving the news, Holly reached out to me to ask if we could secretly schedule her session...she wanted to not only capture “Holly, in that moment”, before any surgery or treatment, but she was mostly and especially keen to be able to gift images to Jon, her mom, and her kids for Christmas. With conspiratorial emails and texts, and help from her daughter Kenzie and niece Mary-Kate, we managed to pull it off with Jon none the wiser – a feat considering I had coffee with him a few days prior and had to be super mindful to not blurt out anything that might give us away!

We managed to shoot, she chose her images on the sly while on vacation with Jon in Hawaii, I edited them and got them printed, Mary-Kate picked them up and delivered them to Kenzie, and – BOOM – we got’er done before I left on my vacation & she started treatment. Women are truly incredible...and Holly epitomizes this!

I love this shot...I love how carefree Holly looks, dancing and laughing 😊. I love the joy I feel when I look at her here. May we all, even amidst the toughest of times, be able to tap into our carefree spirits the way Holly does. 🙏🏼

When I say ‘every woman deserves a portrait she loves.’ I mean it wholeheartedly. I also recognize that for many women the idea of being photographed is intimidating at least and uncomfortable at best...BUT having images of your beautiful self is so empowering – that chance to see ‘you’ as your loved ones do – and it is also an enormous gift to you and to all who love you. Providing this service to all women, and with very special reverence toward women facing or who have faced serious illness, is my heart’s work and my great honour. While I so wish I could go back in time to have professional portraits of my mom, portraits that she loved; it brings me comfort knowing that I can play a role in other women having images of themselves that show their badass, generous, kind, strong, resilient, graceful, and vulnerable natures…that show their authenticity.

Thank you, Holly, for your trust, for your inspiring nature, and for allowing me to share your beauty & grace with the world...all of it takes courage. I know I can speak for the collective when I say: we are sending you love & light as you embark on this new journey...you’ve got this! Thank you, Jon, for trusting me to create portraits of this woman you love…we couldn’t have known how special this gift would come to be, and I’m so grateful I was in a position to provide something special to Holly, to you, and to your family.

xo Lori

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