Recently, I traveled to Germany for a photography workshop. I went because, as a photographer, I believe I should always keep learning, stay inspired, and continue improving my craft.

What I didn’t expect was how much the experience would change something in me.

At one point during the workshop, our instructor told us that we weren’t going to have a model.

We were going to photograph each other.

And I remember thinking that I almost didn’t want to go.

Being on the other side of the camera was the last thing I felt like doing. I hadn’t planned an amazing outfit. I didn’t feel particularly prepared to be photographed. I showed up in simple black pants and a white top, and that was it.

I went exactly as I was.

And then I saw the photographs.

For the first time in a very long time, I wasn’t looking at myself and immediately searching for something to criticize.

I wasn’t thinking about my body. I wasn’t studying the angle of my face or wondering whether something should have been different.

I was just looking at me.

And I loved the photographs.

Some were quiet. Some had movement. In some, my hair was messy or falling across my face. Not everything was perfectly placed—and somehow, none of that mattered.

Actually, that was what made them feel so powerful.

They captured an emotion. A moment. A woman who wasn’t performing for the camera or trying to create the perfect photograph.

Something clicked for me during that experience.

I realized how empowering it can be to see yourself without all the expectations we normally bring into a photo session. Not transformed into someone else. Not perfectly posed.

Just seen.

That experience stayed with me long after I came home.

And it became the inspiration behind As She Is.