“When the photos were done, I just cried,” says Kimberly Blake Nixon. “I couldn’t believe how beautiful they look compared to how not very beautiful I felt at the time.”
What does beauty mean to older women? When we look at photographs of ourselves, what do we see?
One of the messages that our culture sends women is that our sexual attractiveness and availability is a measure of our worth. And older women, especially post-menopause, internalize messages that devalue our beauty and therefore our worth to society.
So what happens when a photographer, a mature woman herself, welcomes older women into her studio to get the full glamour treatment? In this episode, we explore how a session with photographer Jana Marcus inspired and thrilled the women who took part. Even though beauty is supposed to be a superficial attribute, seeing themselves as beautiful, strong, and desirable had a deep and lasting effect on these women.
“When I first saw the picture that went into that magazine, I was like, holy cow, look at her, look at that lady—look at that boss lady!” says Shannon Murray, one of Jana’s subjects.
Thanks to Jana Marcus as well as Kimberly Blake Nixon, Shannon Murray, Kristi Melani, Sharon DeJong, Gail Borkowski, Jacqueline Morgan, and Kimberly Scott for sharing their experiences.
Listen in! [Click for transcription]
All photographs © copyright Jana Marcus.
For more information:
- 40 Over 40 Portraits by Jana Marcus
- Line of Blood by Jana Marcus
- Transfigurations by Jana Marcus
- “Transfigurations” Stanford University Lecture by Jana Marcus
Music:
- The songs “You are a beautiful girl” and “Kathleen Mavourneen” were provided by the National Jukebox.
- The song “I Love Your Hair” by June & Jean Millington is from the FreeMusicArchive.org.