I love browsing around the internet for creative photo projects, but a recent article on F Stop Lounge that made me stop and take note of a project that I absolutely MUST do if I ever end up having a daughter. And I might even end up trying to persuade my sister-in-law that we need to try this with my adorable niece when she’s older!
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You may have seen these floating around the internet, but if not, you have to check out talented Austin photographer Jaime Moore’s site and the project she worked on for her daughter, Emma. Instead of dressing her up as a Disney Princess, as so many folks around here were doing, she decided to dress her daughter up as real women who had achieved real things! And she rocks it with style! Seriously, I love her as Amelia Earhart.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Disney {you recall the Disney FairyTale Wedding, yes?} and fairytales in general – they’re great stories. But equally great are the stories of real women who have achieved great things and are responsible for wonderful changes in the world. As she says, “My daughter wasn’t born into royalty, but she was born into a country where she can now vote, become a doctor, a pilot, an astronaut, or even President if she wants, and that’s what REALLY matters.” Amen. Those aren’t fairy tales, friends.
Jaime’s role models for Emma include those pictured above – Susan B. Anthony, Coco Chanel, Amelia Earhart – and Helen Keller, Jane Goodall, and, of course, herself, complete with Emma for President 2044 buttons.
I started to think about how I’d want to attack this project, and what role models I’d want for my daughter, if I ever have one. So here are some of the women who have had a huge influence in my life. Some are the same as the ones pictured, but some are new.
- Madame Marie Curie (1867 – 1934) – Polish physicist and chemist who pioneered research on radioactivity, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only woman to win in two fields, and the only person to win it in multiple sciences
- Susan B. Anthony (1820 – 1906) – founder of the National Women’s Suffrage Association and prominent advocate of women’s rights, and first woman to have her picture on an American coin
- Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) – American abolitionist and author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin who energized anti-slavery movements in the North; both her writings and her public stance against slavery were influential and unexpected for the time
- Annie Oakley (1860 – 1926) – famous woman sharpshooter and exhibition shooter who used her skills to hunt and earn money to support her siblings and her widowed mother
- Elizabeth Blackwell – (1821 – 1910) the first woman physician in the United States, founder of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children and the Women’s Medical College; she broke new ground in educating women in medicine
- Amelia Earhart (1897 – 1939) – the first American woman to fly solo across the Atlantic ocean, the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, and on the faculty at Purdue University’s aviation department
- Sally Ride (1951 – 2012) – American physicist and astronaut, the first American woman to enter into low Earth orbit and to this day, the youngest American to be launched into space
- Katharine Hepburn (1907 – 2003) – iconic actress who holds the record for the most Best Actress Oscar wins with 4 out of 12 nominations, athletic when being athletic was not considered in vogue, and famous for throwing convention out of her way
I’ve been influenced by so many great people and leaders, but these are the ones who stand out to me. If you were making a list for your daughter’s inspirational photographs, who would you choose?
KCS
I’m still blogging every day in May with Jenni at Story of My Life – and hundreds more! And yes, thanks to the power of scheduled posts, I’ll be blogging all this weekend, too! 
