The photos we choose to forget.
Jen is a photographer too, but is never in the photo. For a milestone birthday, she was brave enough to book into my last Portrait Session with Madeleine Park, and I know she won’t delete this photo.
On Saturday night, I went to a beautiful 50th birthday party. There was a whole gallery of images showing this woman’s life — her adventures, her achievements, her family and friends. It was adorable.
But as I stood there looking at the photos, she quietly told me that none of the pictures from when she lived in London made it to the wall. “I was bigger back then,” she said, almost apologetically. “I didn’t want people to see that version of me.”
And it struck me.
How often do we edit out parts of our history because we feel embarrassed by how we looked? How frequently do we erase versions of ourselves — the ones that don’t fit the image we want others to see?
The truth is: our photo albums, our camera rolls, our framed memories — they’re rarely complete. We curate them, we choose what to remember, and sometimes we soothe ourselves by deleting whole chapters.
But those chapters still happened. That was still you. And that version of you deserves just as much love and honour as the version you’re happy to display today.
Photographs aren’t just about beauty or perfection. They’re about truth. They hold our wholeness — the messy bits, the awkward bits, the times we weren’t feeling confident. And when we let ourselves accept those images, we’re saying: every version of me is worthy of being remembered.
✨ And here’s the exciting part: you don’t have to wait for the “perfect moment” to be photographed. Right now, exactly as you are, is worth celebrating.
That’s why I do what I do — creating portraits that capture the real you. Not the polished, not the erased, not the cropped-out version. The version that is present, alive, and enough.
If you’ve been waiting for a sign to finally book that shoot, this is it. Let’s celebrate you — today, in this season, just as you are.
📸 I can almost always make space for you if you are keen to update your portraits or you want to acknowledge a milestone like’s chat. Please email me here. Let’s create images you’ll want to include in your story — forever.
