My dream to heal with photography has been to help create a new conversation about body image. The feedback from last week’s blog was a dream come true. Speaking of dreams coming true: Dreaming of heroes and meeting heroes are two separate things. But (by luck?) somehow the two intertwined recently and I was able to not only meet but photograph a woman who inspired and comforted me long before we ever met.
Carsie Blanton is a musician. And when I say “musician” I mean the actual definition. Not the standard pop-artist-created-by-a-music-label-and-endless-marketing-budget.
mu·si·cian
noun \myü-ˈzi-shən\
: a person who writes, sings, or plays music
Except in this case, she writes, sings, AND plays music. Y’all know I love all things vintage. This lady sings oldies with a fresh sound while honoring the history of music.
Her songs spoke to me from the first moment I heard the honeyed tones of her voice. Her songs about love and heartbreak were a balm to this single/divorced girl’s soul. The meloncholy songs deeply touched the broken parts of my heart making them feel beautiful. The sunny love songs made me remember falling in love. My poor friends and family heard her songs on repeat for months. Me singing along terribly of course.
I was nervous and excited to meet her. It’s not often you get to meet someone who has impacted you without ever having met you. I wanted to do a good job, but knew she was short on time being on tour and didn’t want to waste her time.
She drove their tour van to the venue and parallel parked like a boss. Hopped out of the van and hugged me. Totally down to earth with an easy laugh and a great sense of humor, she put me at ease right away. She’s a powerhouse of a woman packed into a little package. Her speaking voice is melodic, but hearing her sing in person is incredible. She sang along to the radio at one point and I don’t think there’s a song she couldn’t do justice.
Obligatory Group Selfie:
Her style is fresh and vintage at the same time. She paired pink cowboy boots with a slinky blue sequin dress and rocked the shit out of that outfit.
Gonna let the photos speak for themselves now. It was an awesome day and I won’t forget that she was even better in person. Listen! Go see her live!
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Iman Woods is an American artist who specializes in pin-up photography. Through a unique and therapeutic process, she’s spent over a decade in perfecting, Iman helps women undo the damage from a negative self-image and unrealistic beauty industry expectations. She helps women embrace their own style of beauty and see themselves in a new light. You can find her on her website, ImanWoods[dot]com.
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