worthy woman
SELF. RECLAIMED
Portait Experience for women ready to exist in their own frame
RECLAMATION
Intentional Portraiture for Women in a moment of Shift.
No Reinvention. No Apology
The Second Installation of the Worthy Portrait Series is here. This photography portrait experience is dedicated to celebrating and uniting women through the art of portraiture & conversation. This deliberate act of self-acknowledgment is a decision to be seen without performance or apology.
Dedicated to women who have lived, struggled and who continue to evolve - it’s a call for the brave, to share their personal story, lived experiences and perspectives while inspiring others in the process. Designed for women who have spent years giving love to others while placing themselves a few steps behind - this series honours the journey, not by smoothing edges, but by seeing them with depth and empathy.
2024 WORTHY WOMAN EXHIBIT
BE INSPIRED. INSPIRE OTHERS.
In 2023 we photographed 35 women, featuring their soulful portraits and touching stories in an exhibit on March 9th, 2024. Created in support of non-profit Women of Wings Society, local YYC community came together to raise funds for this wonderful organization and connect through art and conversation. With a beautiful silent auction, live music, food and self-guided activities, the event was attended by over 130 people.
The response to the series was beyond overwhelming and so beautiful that we decided to run our Worthy Woman Series for one more installation. This will be the last time we offer this specific series, exhibit is currently planned for fall of 2026.
* Each participant’s portrait and story will be featured in a gallery style exhibition at completion of the project
This is NOT your run of the mill photography session! It is a deliberate exploration of individuality, courage, presence, and authentic self-acknowledgment. Celebrating our inherent worth regardless of appearance, condition or life journey. We don’t believe in beauty defined by youth or perfection, but rather beauty that is raw, honest and gritty. Beauty that speaks to courage to be yourself and to your unique sensibilities. You have permission to make more time for yourself, to listen to your inner voice more, to make mistakes and be a beautiful and constant work in progress.
Women often don’t see themselves clearly. We carry biases about our age, our bodies, our relevance. However the women I photograph are powerful, layered, complex.
Their strength lives in their character - not perfection. This work is about documenting that truth. Not the surface.
The substance.
An archive of self-acknowledgment
Worthy Woman exists to mark presence.
This is not a makeover, a confidence exercise, or a reinvention narrative.
It is a record of women as they are - shaped by experience, survival, and change.
WHY THIS WORK EXISTS
what our clients have to say about their experience
WHO THIS IS FOR
Women at a threshold
There comes a moment when something in life shifts. A marriage ends, a career changes, an illness alters perspective, children grow, silence gets louder. Perhaps it’s a feeling of reinvention, sometimes it’s loss and rebuilding in it’s wake. You look in the mirror and realize you have been living for everyone else more than for yourself.
Many have never stood in front of a camera by choice. Hesitation is common. Self-doubt is expected. Neither disqualifies you. This is not a makeover. It is a a reckoning.
For the imperfectly perfect women. The uprising women. For women who are not afraid to show their vulnerability, battle scars, body image acceptance or struggle and the like. Bring your unique quirks, your sense of humor, your quiet, contemplative nature, your bold personality. Bring your struggles, pain and your joys, your triumphs and your wisdom. Bring your truth and yourself just as you are.
CONFIDENCE IS LEARNED. COURAGE IS CONTAGIOUS
WHAT THIS EXPERIENCE IS NOT
Not performance. Not empowerment. Not therapy.
This work does not ask you to arrive confident, healed, or resolved.
There is nothing to fix here. Only something to acknowledge.
Recognition is the work.
It is not about vanity or perfection. It is not a makeover
It is not about becoming someone else.
It is about seeing yourself clearly, with compassion and depth.
When you step in front of the camera here, you are invited to be seen, heard, felt - exactly as you are
This is not a quick, impersonal headshot session or “I just need a few images” session.
This is portraiture made with intentionality, not convenience.
It honours courage, vulnerability, self-reflection, wisdom, and presence
THE TRUTH
I have been a photographer for over 12 years. The persistent, universal experience among women I have witnessed is that most of us carry silent narratives of not being or feeling like we are enough.
Not successful enough, not thin enough, not beautiful or photogenic enough, not lovable enough, not thin enough, not worthy. Not ready yet. At some point, we start believing the voice. We postpone ourselves. Persistently.
At 37, my own life unraveled in ways I didn’t see coming. Identity & values cracked. Certainty disappeared.
Permission was given to others for decades to erode my self-worth. Rebuilding wasn’t aesthetic. It was internal and ugly and messy. By 40, I wasn’t trying to become someone new. I was reclaiming who I had always been. Without apology or explanation.
This series was born from that reclamation and from the long process of unraveling self-doubt, invisibility and fear to see myself with clarity, including my strengths, talents, shortfalls and to reclaim even something as basic as my name (that’s a story for another time).
In helping other women acknowledge and see themselves I also inherently learned to see myself differently. This is not designed to fix anyone. It exists to reflect with honesty what is already there.
Through my own lived experience of questioning my value and emerging on the other side, I saw that true and enduring beauty lies so much deeper beyond surface and I wanted other women to witness that and own it for themselves.
Finished ART, not content
portraits are completed as physical works
Custom artwork created to exist beyond screens and platforms.
These portraits are meant to be lived with. Returned to. Remembered.
This is a LIMITED SERIES BY DESIGN.
Worthy Woman is not always available.
Each edition is time-bound and intentionally closed.
Participation becomes part of a finite archive, not a repeatable offer.
It is not casual. That is what gives it weight.
INCLUDED IN YOUR PORTRAIT EXPERIENCE
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DISCOVERY CALL
Share your story in this free discovery call. Learn about this unique experience and have your questions answered. Determine if this is the right move for you.
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SESSION STYLING
Collaborative & creative planning process, where who you are, your journey and personal preferences come together to set the mood and overall look you wish your images to portray. Express yourself and your style, add diversity and personality to your images. We will bring together wardrobe and your hair/makeup preferences for maximum impact and visual interest
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CUSTOM PHOTO SHOOT
You are the most important person in the room. In our intimate studio setting you will be fully guided throughout the entire photo session. No need to think about anything except being present. We will capture what matters while you enjoy full freedom to explore and be unapologetically yourself.
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PROFESSIONAL HAIR AND MAKEUP
Not everyone may need or want a full transformation but it’s still wonderful to be taken care of and feel beautiful for a day. Whether it’s a simple, understated look or a full transformation, enjoy a day in the hands of some of the best artists in the industry.
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PROFESSIONAL EDITING
Most of the work is done through intentional lighting and direction, however incorporating our artistic vision is what we are passionate about. Your final images will be professionally edited with highest attention to detail, while ensuring you still look like yourself.
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PHOTO REVEAL
Appointment to view your portraits in person and select your favourite images. We will guide you in selecting the best portraits and products to display your beautiful images. No hard sell or salesy gimmicks, you are fully in control. Walk away with only what you love.
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$800 Credit
Receive a $800 credit towards purchase of your portraits and/or products. Each purchased portrait comes in both print and digital version. Choose from state of the art products hand-crafted by world vendors and meticulously curated by us. We believe in tangible art that deserves to be passed on through generations and have searched the world to bring you the best. One portrait selected by the photographer will be used for the Exhibit display.
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private exhibit + photo magazine
Upon completion of the series, a private exhibit event will be hosted featuring each of the fabulous women photographed. You will receive 1 complimentary ticket to attend the event.
You will be also featured in a custom magazine profiling your story along with the stories of other participants and will receive one copy of our custom magazine.
WHY DO THIS?
“This series was born out of gratitude and desire to connect with diverse women, encourage honest and meaningful conversations and challenge our collective narrative of worthiness, self-value, aging, identity, purpose and beauty. ”
Stand in your own power.
Partake in an experience of purpose, meaning and connection.
Gain a new perspective - seeing yourself through someone else’s eyes,
Embrace the marks of who you have been and where you are going.
Inspire yourself and other women to be self-aware, self-respecting and self-validating
Enjoy yourself without feeling vein or self-indulgent and put yourself first for a change
Exist in legacy, power portraits that stand the test of time
Feel seen, heard, inspired and reconnect with who you are or aspire to be
Celebrate your personal or professional milestone(s)
Acknowledge that as a woman you are more than a sum of your physical attributes, expectations placed on you and the many roles you play
Because it’s a beautiful, unique and fun journey - but hey, don’t take my word for it!
WHAT DOES THIS EXPERIENCE COST?
Did you know that the global beauty industry, as of July 2019 was valued at $532 billion worldwide. This already astounding figure is likely significantly higher today. During a 2017 study, American women were found to spend nearly a quarter of a million dollars on their appearance in their lifetime (age 18-78) - an average of $3,756 a year. Combination of spa/salon appointments, cosmetics, skincare purchases and treatments drive our incessant need to invest in physical appearance in an attempt to aspire to be a better version of ourselves. While empowerment comes in many forms and we support any empowered choice, we want to merely challenge women’s perceptions of themselves and offer an experience that for once doesn’t attempt to “fix” anything, but rather celebrates what is.
WHAT DOES THIS EXPERIENCE COST?
How much would you invest to not have to fix anything about yourself. To not try to be anything other than who you already are and embrace it fully?
The scope of this exhibit and initiative includes a charitable portion where we choose a local charity to support.
This unique experience is being offered at special rate of $1490 (including an $800 credit towards purchase of your portraits, collections or products)
TIMELINE | LOCATION
All sessions will be taking place at our Calgary studio. The timeline for the series is Jan 10, 2026 until July 30 2026. All sessions must be scheduled and photoshoots completed within this time frame. Sessions take place Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30am to 3:30pm
TIME COMMITMENT
The entire experience from initial Consultation to delivery of final product is highly collaborate, fun and built around your engagement and participation. To get the most out of the experience your input, energy and views are of great importance. On average you can expect to invest 9-12 hours of your time on this experience not including the final art exhibit.
THE POWER OF PERSPECTIVE
Below same day transformations are here to demonstrate the power of perspective rather than imply that there is an ideal and a less ideal version of ourselves. Where you see imperfections I see character. Where you see struggle, I see resilience. Where you see what’s on the surface and easily criticize it, I see multi-dimensional beauty, humanity and potential.
I believe that true beauty lies in human connection and allowing ourselves to be be truly seen. It exists in engagement, in the depth of diverse emotions and expressions that we carry; in vulnerability; in letting go and having courage to shift perspective. Beauty is in our experiences, mistakes, lessons learned, in triumph, courage and growth; it’s in our energy, thoughts, talents, personality, style, our kindness, in how we relate to ourselves and others. This gallery is here to illustrate that others see us with much more compassion and love than we often see ourselves and we can all use a shift in perspective from time to time.
WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE IF YOU DIDN’T CONSTANTLY FEEL THE NEED TO BE “MORE”?
I invite you to share your unique voice, point of view, that quirky laugh or eclectic style, your understanding of joy and pain and everything in between. I invite you to engage, explore, honor, listen, learn, question, express and embrace. The collection and depth of your personal experiences adds color, dimension and diversity to the world. You are valued. Inspire other women to see their value too.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
By participating you agree to all of the following:
YOUR STORY being featured. Sharing your questionnaire answers and being interviewed by Cedna before/after the photo session (may include a video interview).
Your story & photos being published on our website, blog & social media and final gallery exhibit so we can share your voice and inspire others.
You will be asked to sign a model release for your images allowing for them to be used in the final gallery exhibit, to promote this and future similar series and possibly other formats
Taking a before-styling image prior to hair, makeup, photoshoot and/or providing a cell phone image of your own choosing
share this experience with a friend or family member
receive a $150 CREDIT towards purchase of your own PORTRAITS
SPACE IS LIMITED TO 35 WOMEN
Bookings will be treated on a first come, first serve basis. Once we fill the available spots, we will create a wait list of interested women and may consider doing another similar edition of this campaign in the future.
Please fill out the form to get started and Cedna will reach out to you for your complimentary consultation.
In the meantime, give some thought to how you would like to be photographed and what this experience would mean to you. I can’t wait to hear all about it!
I look forward to meeting you and sharing this journey with you. I cannot wait to photograph you.
FILL OUT THE SUBMISSION FORM (required)
SCHEDULE A PHONE OR VIDEO CONSULTATION with Cedna
403.829.4716 (call, text of email) info@cednaportraitstories.com
