How we move forward…

• 

I’m slowly returning to full time in my business, and I’m very careful and mindful of what I keep from these past few months and what I choose to leave behind. We have been through a lot, after all…

For example, I’m saying goodbye to burn out; I’m saying goodbye to overbooking myself because feeling busy is the only way I feel like I have worth as a business owner. It’s toxic and I’m not doing. I’m also done breaking myself down so I fit in places I don’t belong in, around people that only want me when I make sense to them.

As for what I’m keeping, it’s shooting purely for the joy of creating, creating art that speaks to my soul, my selfie project which literally saved me from having a mental breakdown on more than one occasion – THOSE things I’m keeping. I’m keeping them close to my heart.

But there’s some things to go over. Important things. After months of pandemic stress and anxiety, racial attacks towards Asian Americans and murders of Black people at the hands of police, I can no longer deny that things HAVE TO CHANGE and that each of us are responsible for igniting that change.

And while I’m not proud it took me this long to be a part of the conversation, I’m ready to learn and own my part of the problem. I took a serious look at my life and work and found that my portfolio depicted a very limited view of female beauty. And it would be so easy to come up with excuses like “I cannot control who books me” or “I live in a predominately white town”. But the truth is there are things I can control and there is room to be better. Saying I’m a photographer for all women but only showing one kind of beauty is dangerous and sends a subliminal message that there’s a standard, when really there’s no wrong way to be a woman.

It is for this reason that I’m committing to giving priority to Black women for styled shoots and creative projects. They will get a fully styled shoot with professional hair and makeup and beautiful images gifted as my thanks for allowing me to learn how to show up for EVERY KIND OF WOMAN.

I know that it is not the burden of Black women to help me learn, it is my job to do the work, to show up and do better. I am committed to saturating my body of work with images of beautiful women of all shapes, sizes and colors and creating a safe space for them to feel pampered, loved and seen.

If you are someone that is willing to go on this journey with me (or know someone that would love a photoshoot) and help me create images that are inclusive, diverse and empowering to all women – comment below or shoot me an email at irina@irinanegrean.com

I’ll do my best to schedule as many styled shoots as I can so when I’m at capacity, I’ll start a waiting list and as soon as room opens up, I’ll take more!

There’s more to be said and done, but for now, I’m keeping this short. Words don’t mean shit if they’re not followed by action. Now let’s get to work.