Editorial Portraits for Tampa Bay’s Teens
When I was in high school in the late 80s/early 90s, “supermodels” became a thing and teens everywhere, including yours truly, dreamed of someday gracing the cover of Seventeen Magazine or of starring in a George Michael video alongside Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell. (My living room dancing skills were top notch, seriously. Why music video producers everywhere weren’t knocking down my door is still a total mystery to me.)
It makes total sense that, at the height of this supermodel popularity, Glamour Shots was crushing it. OMG I wanted one of those stupid glam sessions so effing bad but my mom wouldn’t let me do it. I was so jealous - all of my friends were bringing in these wallet-sized photos of themselves with their hair and makeup all done up, wearing things like feather boas, leather jackets, and opera-length white gloves. Never mind that these photos looked nothing like any photos you’d see of a supermodel, it felt like modeling and that’s really all that mattered. We wanted to feel gorgeous and we wanted all of our friends to revel in that gorgeousness with us (hence the wallet-sized photos - those were our Instagram pics).
While Glamour Shots is now a thing of the past, that desire lots of teens and pre-teens have to feel and look like a model isn’t going anywhere. Seeing ourselves looking amazing in photos is a huge self-esteem booster and, as much as we parents want our kids to get their confidence from things like effort, resolve, and courage, let’s be real - most of our teens put a lot of importance on appearance. So why not let them see how gorgeous they are, exactly as they are, with some incredible photos? No feather boas or opera gloves required.
Having gone through the teen phase twice now and being in it currently with my youngest, I understand how important it is for teens to know that they’re beautiful just as they are. No makeup, no filters, no photoshop. Capturing who they are in photographs is the first step to build some of that confidence; their parents showing off those photographs is the second step. Get some awesome portraits of your teens done and then put those portraits on your walls.
