Dare to be you...
Not many people know that my photographic career started out in magazine publishing in New York City. I started out as a photo production assistant at Time Inc, and had to work with thousands on images every single day. This is when my appreciation for photography began and I started to learn about this secret world of imagery that not many people are privy to. As my career advanced I worked with some of the biggest titles in magazine publishing such as People Magazine, Real Simple, Sports Illustrated, Wired, Teen Vogue, Vogue and many more.
It wasn't until my days in the fashion world that I really began to understand that beauty, true beauty was dying. I had gotten used to seeing the before and after images of celebrities and models, but it wasn't until I worked on Teen Vogue that I had a wake-up call. These teen models were so thin, the retouchers had to add fat to their bodies. Girls wearing outfits that cost thousands, modeling for magazines that makes millions; looked like starving children of a third-world country.
As I worked more and more with this title, I of course worked more and more with teens, and I realized that they didn't know these images weren't real. More than that, I began to realize that women in general didn't know that these images weren't real and that worldwide, women were comparing themselves to people who didn't exist.
When I left the publishing world behind, I became hyper aware of how women speak to themselves and about themselves and I could see and hear nothing but self-hate and low self-esteem, and it broke my heart.
Being a woman should be empowering, when you walk down the street you should think people are starting because of the beauty that is radiating from you, not because you feel they are judging you.
And so gave birth to the Portrait Boutique, the goal is to bring true beauty back into the world, to show women their beauty once again and for every women to know that even in sweats and sneakers the sexiest thing you can put on is confidence.
It's not about changing you are, it's about revealing it.
- Sophia
It wasn't until my days in the fashion world that I really began to understand that beauty, true beauty was dying. I had gotten used to seeing the before and after images of celebrities and models, but it wasn't until I worked on Teen Vogue that I had a wake-up call. These teen models were so thin, the retouchers had to add fat to their bodies. Girls wearing outfits that cost thousands, modeling for magazines that makes millions; looked like starving children of a third-world country.
As I worked more and more with this title, I of course worked more and more with teens, and I realized that they didn't know these images weren't real. More than that, I began to realize that women in general didn't know that these images weren't real and that worldwide, women were comparing themselves to people who didn't exist.
When I left the publishing world behind, I became hyper aware of how women speak to themselves and about themselves and I could see and hear nothing but self-hate and low self-esteem, and it broke my heart.
Being a woman should be empowering, when you walk down the street you should think people are starting because of the beauty that is radiating from you, not because you feel they are judging you.
And so gave birth to the Portrait Boutique, the goal is to bring true beauty back into the world, to show women their beauty once again and for every women to know that even in sweats and sneakers the sexiest thing you can put on is confidence.
It's not about changing you are, it's about revealing it.
- Sophia
