A Sapphic Fantasy
This photoshoot was a celebration of Sapphic love (women loving women). Too often the Sapphic romance we get in popular media is tragic, laced with heartbreak, sadness and star crossed lovers. For once, I wanted something purely sweet, and loving, steeped in romance, not tragedy!
Representation is so important, the entire team for this shoot was Sapphic in some form! The models are partners, the assistant is queer, and the photography and retouching was done by myself, a queer woman!
This shoot is a celebration of love, but not just between these gorgeous women, this shoot is a love letter to myself. I am a proud queer, genderqueer, neurodivergent, chronically ill woman. There are many intersectionality’s to my identity and this was me embracing all of them! 💜
The last year my health has been at its absolute worst, from my collapse last June, to having Covid over Christmas, and the nearly 6 month fibromyalgia flare that followed. I’ll be honest, I was absolutely terrified I’d never be able to shoot on location again, it’s hard to remember there’ll be an end when you’re in a bad flare, but it’s easy to slip into thinking ‘this is just how I am now’, but fuck that noise!! I took the time I’ve been out of action to do a lot of deep self-reflection, and the result is me feeling the most myself I’ve felt in a really long time 🥺
For a lot of this shoot, I was sat down on a camping chair, I took breaks after images, and both the models and my wonderful assistant, Jasmine allowed me to take my time, no one was mad when we ran over slightly, or when I needed to slow down, or pause. After months of barely functioning, I was able to create again, and most importantly, on my own terms! 😍
Despite everything, I feel like I’m finally the kind of creative I’ve always wanted to be, and it took embracing all of myself to do it.
No one gets it right first time and that’s okay! Give yourself the grace and the time you deserve, self care is life saving, looking after yourself first is necessary, keep persevering, because you never know what you’ll achieve on the other side!!