Originally from northern Mississippi, photographer Jess Fielder now follows her Air Force husband from base to base with their two kids and her camera strapped to her side.
She originally picked up the hobby to capture all of her daughter's adorable little moments, but soon realized how much she loved sharing her talent behind the lens with others. As she explains on her website, "Nothing makes me happier than to be a part of creating a memory that will be treasured for a lifetime."
For the project below, however, Fielder switched gears to highlight an issue many women struggle with throughout their lives: finding confidence in their own skin.
With her models standing in a gorgeous, lush-green field, she asks each one to write down something they've been told about their bodies by someone that impacted them negatively. Then, she asks them to write down something they know is true to themselves which has nothing to do with their their physicality.
Titled "Self Love," the stunning results are now inspiring other women to embrace their inner beauty, too.
Fielder begins her post on Facebook by quoting Erin McKean's powerful words, "You don't have to be pretty. You don't owe prettiness to anyone…"
"Not to your boyfriend/spouse/partner, not to your co-workers, especially not to random men on the street…"
"You don't owe it to your mother. You don't owe it to your children. You don't owe it to civilization in general…"
"Prettiness is not a rent you pay for occupying a space marked 'female.'"
Fielder is honored to have witnessed the moment each woman's demeanor changed between the first card and the second.
As she writes in the post, "They are all beautiful. Period."
She hopes that for at least those few hours of the photo session, if not every moment of their life, each woman fully knew that to be true.
The post has since been seen and shared by over 100,000 users on the social networking site. Fielder's images prove that we can all find strength within ourselves no matter what others might try to convince us of otherwise.
Head over to her Facebook to see more amazing women.
And be sure to click the button below to SHARE this talented photographer with your friends!
