In the last 5 months I have been recovering from an injury, caused by an accident while climbing. I have been suffering from post concussion issues, mostly headaches and pains in my body from a big fall to the ground. I have been mostly silent on social media and only done minimum work on the screen. Noisy and busy environments have been difficult to handle and. Recovery has been a daily process, sometimes with good results, sometimes a frustration and a struggle.
Since the accident I am learning many valuable lessons of patience, perseverance, support and mindfulness. One hard thing that I encountered is to still take care of myself on the outside, when I am so concentrated on curing and repairing the inside and dealing with pain. Sure, physical therapy helps to get the body moving again, but the outside beauty is quite different. Time and time again I remember the words of my grandmother, telling me that no matter what is happening in life, you cannot let yourself go. I often dismissed the advice, but I see her point so clearly now: when something negative or difficult is happening in your life, it is all to easy to ignore your physical appearance, which will only lead to more disappointment.
The occasion came up when looking for a swimming pool for a client’s Photoshoot. A colleague of mine had a beautiful swimming pool in Henderson, Las Vegas. Wanting to check out the location before the fashion Photoshoot for a brand, I planned to go and see the pool and my colleague offered to photograph me.
Every now and again I like being on the other side of the camera to experience the same as my clients do. This time was even more meaningful than previous experiences. I had to pick myself up, ignore the headaches and the pains, put my make up, pick some outfits and accept the scar on my face, a reminder of the close encounter with the rocks.
Being a model for one day turned out to be challenging but so therapeutic. The process made me practice self care and seeing the results made me more positive about my recovery.
My own accident had me thinking about other people that suffer for many reasons: accident recovery, long term illness etc. A Photoshoot is not just the end result but is also the process. Caring about yourself as part of a boudoir, lifestyle or portrait Photoshoot means first of all having a constructive activity, which forces you to be the center focus. It is a creative activity into which you can have an input in and in doing so create something with the help of the photographer. Creating beauty is therapeutic in itself! The Photoshoot can help you confront body insecurities that are often afflicting. Posing is like a performance and smiling brings even more smiles and reminds yourself the great chemical reaction that your body has from laughter. ‘Feeling’ beautiful improves the whole mood and finally seeing great results in the images is so encouraging on the road of recovery, heath , fitness, self care or whatever else you have embarked on.
Thank you Erik John Ricardo for the the great captures and for being so encouraging. Yes I was sore from posing and I was so tired after the shoot I had to take a nap!
Photos by Erik John Ricardo
