ME & PROUD – 50 OVER 50 PROJECT
personal project
Personal project – to photograph 50 women aged over 50 for International Women’s Day 2020
PERSONAL PROJECT, ON LOCATION IN NORWICH
THE CONCEPT
Me and Proud was a personal project I initiated for International Women’s Day 2020, with the goal of photographing 50 women aged 50 and over.
So why Me and Proud? After a family portrait session in my studio, I decided to create a portrait of myself—one without makeup, hair styling, or elaborate clothing, just a simple fabric for modesty. The experience was incredibly liberating. Inspired by this, I offered 49 other women the opportunity to participate in a complimentary session, provided they were open to following the same concept.
THE RESULT
The images created were beautifully natural, celebrating the acceptance of ourselves as we age.
What we discovered, almost by accident, was that when the trappings of clothing, makeup, and hairstyling were removed, it became surprisingly difficult to guess the subject’s profession. I tested this idea as a quiz during a couple of talks I gave to local women’s groups. Out of twenty photographs, the highest score for correctly guessing a profession was four. It’s fascinating—and a powerful reminder of the impact that branding, clothing, colour, accessories, and location can have on how we’re perceived.
P.S. We were thrilled when participant Sue Bayliss wrote about the project in her weekend column for the Eastern Daily Press and included the quiz!
So many wonderful women seized the moment and accepted my offer to be part of this personal project!
Here are their thoughts of Me & Proud… In their own words:
“Capturing the natural mid-age woman ‘as is’ – without make-up, or hair styling – is a great idea. I welcome Angela’s innovative and active approach to celebrate women in their 50s in order to help us come to terms with our younger selves fading away to give space for a more mature, unfamiliar, yet beautiful self. It requires a change in mind-set and interpretation of self and for us to see our inner, as well as, outer beauty. Angela’s photography is a refreshing way to encourage us to be courageous as we join this journey of acceptance to the next chapter of our lives – thank you. ”
Dr Susanne Lindqvist
“What a liberating experience this has been… Angela thank you. So much. You have helped – no made – me look at me in a whole new way. And captured so many aspects of me all at once. I love your summation. And I’m so very proud. You have worked some real magic lovely lady. It was an absolute pleasure to meet and chat with you and look forward to seeing you again soon.”
Simone Gilbert
“Angela Adams I can’t thank you enough for such a fun afternoon. You certainly know how to bring out the best in us and it shows in your wonderful photography… Much love ❤️”
Tuesday Simmonds
“Angela, you are so good at getting the most from people and it was a dream come true for me to have a photo shoot. Wow the pictures are absolutely fabulous and so difficult to choose. Thank you ”
Debs Johnson
“From the first moment I met Angela we had very similar mind sets about age and what ageing can mean both in a positive and negative way. I am very uncomfortable in front of the camera but Angela made me feel so at ease, I really felt uplifted by the whole experience. Thank you.”
Jayne Raffles
“I met Angela for the first time when I went for my photo shoot and she was so welcoming and really put me at ease straight away. The photo session seemed to fly by as we were generally chatting and laughing and Angela made sure I was comfortable with trying different things. What can I say I absolutely loved the photos she took of me, even though I was without makeup, I still looked fabulous , Thankyou so much Angela x”
Lorraine Brooks
“Angela made me feel totally at ease. I hate looking at myself in a mirror but absolutely love the photos she took. Thank you for giving me the confidence to be myself. X”
Alina Stammers
