Last updated on October 3rd, 2013 at 04:12 pm
Tree climbing, so evocative of childhood.
When I set out on the journey that has become my career, I did not anticipate healing through photography.
I started photography when I was 250 pounds and depressed that my life had no direction. I was in Germany visiting my parents. My dad let me use his digital camera and I was hooked. I sought to find beauty in my world which started with butterflies and German fountains. Then I turned my lens onto myself.
I taught myself posing and lighting by doing hundreds of shots with the self-timer.
I found that I could make myself look more like I did in the mirror and less like the snapshots I hated. That was when I discovered cameras lie.
After I moved back to the states I sought clients who could benefit from seeing a photo of themselves that they loved.
Because there’s such a need for self-love, it quickly morphed into an unexpected career.
But healing through photography isn’t only for the client. Along the way of helping heal so many women, I healed myself. I lost 90 pounds. I had a beautiful baby. I had post-partum depression. I was diagnosed with Lyme disease. I got divorced.
And through it all, photography has healed me. I got to a place of selflessness to photograph my subjects. It’s not about me, it’s about capturing the essence of a person.
This past weekend I was visiting friends from my teenage days in Germany. The kiddos came over for a family dinner and I felt an intense need to photograph them. I needed to capture them and create art. I needed my therapy. They weren’t dressed up. It was completely impromptu. But these are some of my favorite photographs.
Grandmother and Granddaughter!
Monkey in a tree! This is the kids’ favorite photo.
Pensive, but so beautiful.
I let kids pose themselves. This is such an amazing and dynamic shot.
Aren’t they gorgeous?
Silly kiddos.
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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