This is Amber. She’s a wife, mother of three-year-old twins and breast cancer fighter. This summer she has lost both of her breasts to a double mastectomy and her hair, but NOT her hope or courage. For weeks I’d been wanting to ask her if she wanted to do any sort of photo shoot to document this time in her life, but didn’t want to be invasive/didn’t know how she’d react. The feeling was so strong a few weeks ago that I finally asked her… only to discover she would lose her hair any second and she had been praying for a way to document these moments in her life. We planned a three part shoot: 1. Hair 2. The Shave 3. Bald.
The session is featured on Beauty Revived as one of their VERY first features in Utah’s 50 Most Beautiful Women Campaign. Connect with the Beauty Revived Facebook page to see 50 of Utah’s Most Beautiful Women everyday starting today!
PART ONE:
PART TWO:
Amber was nervous to shave her head, but even more nervous to wake up with all her hair left on her pillow. In order to avoid that traumatic experience, her decision was to first cut her hair short and then when the time came she would shave her head before it fell out on it’s own. Her mother-in-law, Annette, is also her hairdresser. She set up her little salon in the front yard to shave Amber’s head. There were a few tears and lots of choking back tears from all of us observing, but mostly a lot of giggling, smiling and complete optimism as Amber watched her hair fall to the ground. Lydia (her daughter) on the other hand was quite upset. She kept telling Amber “mom put your hair back on” but Amber reassured her that it would grow back soon.
PART THREE:
click here. bald is beautiful.
Kylee started Kylee Ann Photography 9 years ago, and has since grown from a one woman amateur show to a full associate team. We shoot 50-75 weddings a year, and thrive on kindness and service. After a year of teaching Intro to Photography at the local technical college, she discovered that helping other entrepreneurs create thriving businesses is what fires her up! She hosts semi-annual Kylee Ann Sleepovers all over the US, speak at conferences and teach online courses about running a small business and marketing.
July 15, 2014
Kylee Maughan