Woman’s History: March 365 Project
It’s time for another installment of personal images from my 365 project. March was Women’s History Month, and I’m curating this month’s round-up to coincide with that and talk about a trip I took with several other women who also run their own photography businesses around the US. Here’s March:
As I write this, it’s still March. But the trip I took 2 weeks ago feels like 2 years ago. My trip to Palm Springs was originally intended to be part of a retreat with The Family Narrative, an annual retreat by and for family photographers. But the decision was made in January, during the height of the Omicron surge, to cancel this year’s retreat. That was a real bummer. The last two years have been isolating for most of us, but working alone and having no one to commiserate with, face to face on a regular basis, has been a real struggle for me. Particularly after working at VCU for 15 years, where everything you do requires three meetings and seventeen emails. I needed this retreat badly, and I wasn’t the only one.
Five of us decided not to cancel our flights, and went to California anyway. We’d never seen each other in person, but from the moment we met at the pool, it felt like we were old friends. We talked business and family, and took plenty of photos (obviously). We discussed our favorite things about working for ourselves, and the pain points associated with not having a “normal” job (like paying for health insurance). We joked about write offs and went for a hike in the desert. We had fantastic Thai food and came home with inside jokes. It was everything I’d hoped the week would be, minus any notes to look back on later. I took no notes. In fact, I didn’t even open my laptop while I was there, which was a little unexpected, but turned out to be completely necessary. I’m very much looking forward to next year, when there will be 50 of us, not 5.
Many of these images (and many others) can be purchased in my Print Shop. Click here to visit the Print Shop and see images I’ve made in California, Arizona, Alaska, North Carolina, Virginia Beach, and good ‘ol RVA.
Of course, my trip was only 5 days of a 31 day month. If you came here looking for family photography and are now confused, here are a few photos from the rest of my month:
