She had watched hundreds of women fall in love with their photographs.

She still didn’t believe it could happen for her.

Meet Jessica: The Woman Behind Your Hair and Makeup

I would say “meet Jessica”, but most of you already have.

If you haven’t, well then, here you go… meet Jessica. 😉

She is the sweetest, nicest human being, and she is also the person who will look after you, do your hair and makeup, and help show you how completely gorgeous you are when you come in for a portrait session with me.

But I want to tell you a little something about Jessica.

Because I know how many of you sitting reading this are experiencing exactly the same thing.

And I want you to see the results of Jessica’s portrait session, but more importantly, I want you to understand two things:

You are not alone in feeling this way.

And you are exactly the kind of woman I want to help.

Jessica had seen it all before

Jessica and I had been working together for a couple of years before I started encouraging her to have her own portrait session.

Together, we had witnessed so many incredible women arrive for their portrait sessions nervous. Sometimes terrified.

And then we watched them relax.

We watched them start having the time of their lives.

Jessica had seen hundreds of these women’s reactions when I showed them the back of the camera and they got their first glimpse at their photographs.

She had heard so many women tell her that she was a magician with her makeup.

And she is.

But you, and every single person she has worked on, were already gorgeous.

She had also heard so many women tell me that I was a magician, and she helped me try to convince them that, yes, I know how to pose you and take a good photograph…

…but that’s still you on the other side of the camera.

YOU ARE THE FRIKKEN MAGIC!

Jessica had seen the tears people cried when they finally saw and felt their own beauty.

She had witnessed the laughs.

The deep conversations.

The moments where women looked at themselves in a completely different way.

She had seen it all.

But she still didn’t think it could happen to her

Somehow, despite everything she had witnessed, Jessica didn’t think she could experience the same thing herself.

She had watched client after client tell me that they weren’t photogenic.

She had watched them take a chance anyway.

And she had watched them absolutely love the results.

But she still didn’t believe it was possible for her.

She just didn’t think she was photogenic.

Eventually, all these years later, she decided she was brave enough to try.

And these are her photographs.

What if this is you?

If this could have been written about you (apart from the whole “you being my hair stylist and makeup artist” bit, obviously 😂) I want you to know something.

You are so not alone in these feelings.

I understand.

I get it.

I’ve heard the same things from so many women before they step in front of my camera:

“I’m not photogenic.”

“I hate having my photograph taken.”

“I don’t know what to do in front of the camera.”

“I’ll do it when I’ve lost some weight.”

And I understand why you feel that way.

But understanding it doesn’t mean I want you to keep hiding.

It means I want you to do what Jessica eventually did.

Bet on yourself.

Give yourself the opportunity to be shown what other people can already see.

That you are incredible.

That you are beautiful.

That you are worthy of existing in photographs that feel like you.

You don’t need to become photogenic before you book a portrait session.

You just need to be willing to let me show you what happens when you’re photographed by someone who knows how to guide you.

Ready to give it a try?

Tamryn Lowe is an internationally award-winning portrait photographer based in Johannesburg, specialising in guided portrait sessions for women.

Most of the women she photographs don’t feel comfortable in front of the camera. They think they’re not photogenic, worry they’ll look awkward, or simply don’t recognise themselves in photographs.

And Jessica was no different.

Tamryn’s favourite clients are the women who arrive convinced they can’t do this, and leave having seen themselves in an entirely different way.

Because you don’t need to become photogenic before your portrait session.

You just need to be willing to let someone show you what was already there.