Shannon by Tom Luta

Posted in Portraits

The story behind the photo started out with me working on my portfolio .
I asked a friend if he knew of any one who be might be interested and was able to get in touch with a young lady name Shannon . We worked out all the details and after three weeks of life getting in the way we met for the shoot.
After test shots the strobes were firing away with me directing saying bend here turn there, arch your back , give me love, etc....
I've learned that letting the model see what the camera is seeing is a good thing but after doing so I could see tears in her eyes although she seemed to like what she saw. I figured it was a girl moment and just let it pass by.
In the middle of shooting at the second location Shannon told me her story.
She has a thyroid problem that was causing her to go into heart failure she was told she had to go under radation to kill it. Six months after treatment her body rejected the radation and went into heart failure a second time. And during this whole time she lost who she was.
As time went by her hair grew back and her health started to gain ground . Before long she was back to her self.
She said that she didn't think that she had the confidence to do the shoot but after being let down by those who she thought were friends, suffering heart failure twice and all the pain from the treatment she refused to let it all keep her down.
I had know idea that she was in so much pain nor did I know that she had much to prove to herself .
She poured herself for two hours in to the shoot with expression gesture, and poise .
She told me that I made her look beautiful and thanked me again and again. I told her that I was the lucky one to have captured the beauty that was always there and that I was honored to have been there.
There is magic in photography and we who stand behind the lens are able to capture and freeze time and space. We have the ability to show how beautiful the world and everyone in it truly are.
This is the story behind the photo.
In short this is the story of Shannon's Heart
Tagged With: #storybehindthephoto

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