Last year I made a call via Instagram about getting more woman over 50 in front of my camera. There’s the misconception that only women of a certain age should be photographed? A big joke right? I don’t agree at all with this idea. Do you? 

For me, beauty shines through the confidence of standing in front of the camera, the best use of light and feeling great in your skin. I have photographed women in their early 90s for a photography project about Women who served during World War Two. 

These women had a lot of questioning of why they should be photographed, it required quite a lot of convincing. What I saw in them is not their age but their life, the love, they had inside their heart, how proud they were of what they had accomplished and the trust they had in me as their photographer

A portrait is not just about a photograph it’s about you the person, and your life, your unique identity, every picture is always going to be different because every person is unique. 

After making the call for more women over 50 in front of my camera, Elaine got in touch and put me to the challenge, convinced that at 68 she was too old for my challenge. We met up had a conversation about how she dreamed to be photographed and came up with this wonderful idea of setting her photoshoot in Sevill

Elaine, is a journalist, author and offers writing workshop and retreats in the heart of the Andalusian mountains, the Sierra Nevada at a gorgeous place called Finca Buenvino. We decided to organise her photo shoot around her next workshop in Spain taking place in the early summer and so we did. 

It was essential for Elaine to be herself in the images, too often, she felt when previously photographed for newspapers and magazine it was not her in the photos, too much makeup and clothes that didn’t say anything about her. She repeated this concern a few times so I knew that it was vital for her to be herself in the images we would create.

Even the styling recommendations I offered felt too feminine for her, we met up a day before the shoot to discuss her outfits, and made a few decisions, I recommended for her to add a belt as it can make a real difference to define your waist. 

The next day we had our shoot, went to have her make up done and hair styled, walked through the planned locations, the old town, the gardens I had chosen. We had a lot of fun, despite the tourists Elaine was very relaxed and laid back. Without realising it we ‘d spent two enjoyable hours walking around and finished at the oldest Tapas bar in Seville El Riconcillo, celebrating this wonderful experience drinking Tinto Verano and eating delicious Pata Negra Jamon. 

The images from the shoot tell the story of a woman who is confident, happy in her skin, Elaine said that she couldn’t believe this is her! I saw Elaine’s beauty, and feel grateful to have documented her personal story with these legacy portraits.