see your light, your beauty & your strength

You’re invited to embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery, body appreciation and soul empowerment. Picture yourself stepping into a realm of radical self-love, where you'll be guided through empowering visualizations, breathwork, and sacred photography experiences. These sessions offer you a unique opportunity to see yourself externally in ways you've always wished, but found challenging to perceive. Lens of Love sessions allow you to tangibly witness your radiance, strength, and innate beauty, unlocking a deep belief in your own truth.

you use a glass mirror to see your face. you use works of art to see your soul.

— George Bernard Shaw

Lens of Love is all about the power of external self-witnessing.

What does that mean?

Think about the fact that we are witnessed (seen, heard, admired, judged) by others all the time. Unless we are looking in a mirror or at a photo of ourselves, we simply are unable to SEE ourselves. We are deeply living our own internal experience, which makes sense.

And our internal experience can be a mix of things. Perhaps we walk around with an innate sense of unworthiness, or perhaps in general, we feel good and positive about who we are.

But then when we see a photo or video of ourselves, or some other medium that allows us to witness either our physical selves or our creative expression from the outside, and we freak out.

Cognitive dissonance sets in. We think, “What a fool I was to think those good things about myself. Look at me! Ugh.” Or, “I knew it. I’m a mess.”

We respond to those thoughts by either avoiding looking at photos of ourselves at all costs, or by obsessing over the thought, “I don’t like my body/face, therefore I must change by body/face,” and working to change our natural appearance until we feel satisfied.

Both paths ultimately leave us dissatisfied, usually with a feeling of emptiness or unworthiness because neither of them are soul-based responses. They are society-based reactions.

in response, Lens of Love first asks us to be brave, to look ourselves in the eye, literally, and be with what we find there.

Where are we containing and judging our self-expression? Where are we physically holding it in our bodies? What are we holding on to that no longer serves us? Where are we letting the expectations of others dampen our wild nature? Where are we frantically trying to alter & fit in, hoping that no one sees us before our physical revamp? What in our expression is our choice and what is a reaction?

Then, Lens of Love gives us the opportunity to witness & love ourselves as our highest self-expression.

This process asks us to seek out what our soul wants us to know. And what we usually find is that our soul yearns for us to grasp & embrace our capability, our power, our strength, our softness, our unbridled messiness, our beauty and our most beloved worthiness - and to live and move from those incredibly true & grounded places.

when we can literally see our own power & potential, we become more powerful

when we can literally see our own power & potential, we become more powerful

It doesn’t happen in a single day, but we have to plant the seeds in order to grow something stunning.
There are four main components to the way we plant those seeds inside of Lens of Love.

the group

Whether it feels intimidating or not, having other women share this space with you, all walking in together having similar internal judgements and experiences and showing up willing and wanting something more is in itself grounds for our own rigid patterns to begin crumbling.

being photographed

All the self-containment & self-critical pieces come crawling out of the woodworks the moment someone holds up a camera to your face and asks nothing more of you than to BE and BE WITNESSED. You are safe in this space. I can hold it. I can see it. I can capture it. We can use it to grow your wings.

the photos

It’s time to look. To truly see with eyes of honesty and love. What’s there? What’s asking to be acknowledged & beheld? Work with these photos. Hang them up. Place them on your alter where you regularly see them. Write who & what you want to see underneath each image.

perspective shift

Now you define what you want to see, and what you soul is calling you to be. You make a conscious choice to look at our photos and see the woman of your dreams, in your body of today, but with the power you previously considered unthinkable.

next round

Now that your perspective has begun to shift, we spiral into the next experience, this time playing at a higher, more grounded, more empowered level. And you witness yourself THERE and allow ever increasing states of worthiness to flow from your being.

to love yourself is to understand you don't need to be perfect to be amazing.

to love yourself is to understand you don't need to be perfect to be amazing.

No makeup. Air-dried pool hair that hadn’t met a brush in over two days. A random afternoon alone in the backyard.

I love this photo. I love it because I’m grounded, centered and feeling alive with creative ideas. And because I’m leaning into what photos of myself have to teach me.

This one teaches me that I can be wild & untamed in my envisioning of my future. That I can sit and be in my own physical manifestation of that version of me that wants to play with it all and see how far my creative & purpose-felt hunches can take me.

This one shows me that my soul says, to quote Karissa Kouchis, “Fuck it. Let’s dance.”

details

Each full Lens of Love experience consists of 2 days: a main day & a follow up day with some journal prompts and recorded visualizations in between.

The main day is in-person about 5-6 hours. Locations vary. It includes:

  • Group welcome, connection & sharing

  • Journaling time before, during & after

  • Guided visualization designed to connect you to that wisdom that resides in all of us

  • 10-15 minutes of shoot & chat time per person where you can share with me whatever is coming up & we do your photoshoot!

  • Snacks & beverages

  • Closing circle

The follow up day is online and is about 2 weeks later and lasts about 2.5-3 hours. This is where you see your photos for the first time!

  • Group welcome, connection & sharing

  • Revealing of images

  • Reactions to images

  • Reframes & creation of possibility statements

  • Group closing

Each participant is gifted a set of 12 prints and a wooden photo stand to display their images and work with them regularly.

how to participate

  • Pop in for a one-off Lens of Love session or join the year-long program of 5 shoots, each designed to bring your outer image & your inner experience in greater and greater alignment of each other & your highest Self.

  • Gather a group of friends or co-workers and book a private Lens of Love session. See each other through eyes of compassion & deepen your connection and understanding of yourselves & each other.

  • Hire me to lead a full 5-hour Lens of Love session at any point during your retreat.

  • You’ve got a retreat and it provides beautiful transformation. Now offer soulful Lens of Love-style photography to help your attendees capture & solidify their awakening & becoming. Retreat pays or retreat can have attendees sign up and pay.

Joining a group is done via waitlist only.

in her words

  • the images were really touching. I felt my heart soften & open as I viewed pictures of myself in a variety of expressions, having fun & feeling a sense of freedom. They captured me.

    Anne P.

  • I felt like I could finally feel safe to be myself. It was the permission that I'd been waiting for in a photoshoot for so long to just be real. My best friend saw the photos and said, "Amber! It's YOU!"

    Amber Z.

  • I'm not often in a space where women who don't look like me are really being vulnerable with their insecurities. It was really like, "we're all human."

    Jamila T.

  • Lens of Love invited me to asses my perception of myself & meet myself right where I was. I was proud of responding to the invitation that was calling me out of my comfort zone.

    Kristina A.

  • I had the realization that there is worth, there is value, there is beauty in life beside a picture of a thing; it's not indicative of what's happening in a moment.

    Alex K.

  • It's been a huge piece for me in allowing my head and my body to match up with each other. It's been really difficult for me over the years with all the weight loss that I've had to see myself, who I am now, what I look like now.

    Marilee C.

  • Lens of Love helped me see where I am, how far I've come and also a bit of where I'm headed, the possibility. It's like a soul snapshot.

    Jen C.

UPCOMING EVENTS

UPCOMING EVENTS

Choose a Pop-In Session or
the One Year Journey!

One Year Journey sets sail multiple times annually, featuring five Lens of Love events in different locations with different themes to capture and celebrate your growth throughout a full year.

Each group can hold up to 12 women.
There are 10 full-paid spots & 2 scholarship spots available for each Lens of Love session.

Signups done via waitlist only. Dates are subject to change

Reach out if you’d like more information on Lens of Love or on any of the following:

  • a custom date for your own group

  • adding a full Lens of Love experience to your retreat

  • offering Lens of Love-style photography to your retreat guests

  • sacred witnessing & space-holding documentary photography for your retreat, ceremony or workshop

  • a private solo Sacred Self-Expression session

next group begins:

AUGUST 2024

AUGUST • NOVEMBER • FEBRUARY ‘25 • MAY ‘25

Nashville, TN • Available for Travel

FAQs

what happens at a lens of love event?

A lot of beautiful things! There’s time for discussion, to share your experience with your body, seeing yourself in photos or anything else you feel is relevant to you choosing to be here. You’ll be guided through a soulful meditative visualization designed to help open you up to seeing yourself more wholly, with compassion and through the, yes, lens of love. You’ll have time to journal and have some snacks while I work with each woman. We’ll finish with a lovely closing ceremony.

can you come to where i live and do a lens of love event?

Yes! Beginning in January 2024 I’ll be available for both domestic and international travel, so if you have a group of friends, co-workers or peers and you want me to come lead an event for you, send me a message! If you’d like to add the full Lens of Love experience to your retreat, send me a message & let’s create something magical!

what if the idea of being a group of women is overwhelming?

First and foremost, always honor where you are. If being a group of women is so triggering that something like this would actually cause more damage, don’t join in until you’ve done more work around that wound. However, if it’s not as intense as that, every single woman who has been through Lens of Love has reported that being the group was a highlight and added a lot of deep personal insights. It’s a safe space with women who feel very similarly to you.

how do the scholarships work?

If you know in your heart & soul that Lens of Love would be transformative for you, but it would also be financially not feasible, please contact me, tell me why this is for you right now and what, if anything, you could comfortably pay.

can I do this on my own without the group?

Yes! Except it’s just a little bit different. I call these “I AM” sessions and they are for when you are in a season where you want to solidify a new version of yourself, what you’re birthing in your becoming, or perhaps pay homage to a piece of you that is no longer for whatever reason. It’s real, it’s personal, it’s raw and it’s powerful. Send me a message if you’re interested in knowing more!

who is lens of love right for?

Honestly, you probably know right this very moment if this is for you. Most women report having an inner knowing or a nudge that says, “I think I need this.” If you desire a deeper relationship with your body, to be more willing to show up in photos so as not to erase yourself from your own (or your family’s) history, to truly SEE yourself as powerful, to add another layer to your healing journey, or if you’re simply curious about what this process can offer you, then Lens of Love is for you.

what do i do with my photos?

You will be gifted a set of beautiful prints along with a photo stand for you to place on your desk, your alter, or anywhere else you feel will help act as a reminder of your innate worthiness, beauty and power. You can also use your images for inquiry and meditation - sit with them regularly, notice what you love and what you want to change. Get curious and ask why. Honor your journey, explore what your soul is trying to tell you through each image.

who is lens of love NOT right for?

I’ll say this - your photos will absolutely reflect where you are in your journey of self-compassion and openness. If you’re hoping to walk away with a glamor shot of you at your peak best with hair & makeup, this isn’t for you. If you carry a lot of shame in your body about traumatic events and you haven’t been on your healing journey very long, this may be a little bit much for you.