I was going to be a dental hygienist.
I say that now and I laugh. Not because it's not a noble and wise profession but because I cannot imagine myself working in that type of space. I was going to go to college then get a 'normal' 9-5 then get married and have wonderful babies and be a stay at home mom.
It's interesting how so much of my life has happened backwards to what I originally planned. I ended up getting out of school a year early and getting my GED. A few months after that I lived in absolute fear that I had ruined my life. "You're a high school drop out and that's all anyone is going to remember about you," an ex-boyfriend told me. And I thought he was right.
A lot of life happened really fast. I got married at 18 (not to the above mentioned ex-boyfriend) and jumped both feet into the military wife lifestyle.
I said goodbye and buried my father a few months after getting married. We moved.
I tried some online college- not really my thing.
I wrote a book- if you want a good laugh go read it. I had my daughter at 23.
Moved around some more.
HUGE job and lifestyle changes hit us like a freight train.
I had twin boys at 25.
And life just keeps happening.
Amid all the chaos of life, the continual movement and growth and change, a constant was my continual pull towards the camera.
I would see things or hear music or read a poem and be so moved that the only way to satisfy this craving to create something beautiful would be to get a camera in my hand.
I have been photographing women of all ages since I was 14.
Even before I really knew what I wanted to do with my life, I believe my soul has always known. I believe there is something special about this, about showing women how divine and beautiful they are. And I am forever addicted to this service.
I get to hear stories, learn lessons, share laughs, hold long embraces, and cry quiet tears of joy with the most remarkable people. I and my cameras have proven to women, myself included, that we are powerful, otherworldly creations with . . . something so special that we can't really put a name to it. But I can photograph it. I can show it back to you. I've shown this power to women young and old.
I've sat next to them as we've cried silent tears while looking at their portraits. Words can't describe it. But when you see it, goodness, when you see it and you see that its YOU . . . that feeling is indescribable.
13 years later, I'm not a dental hygenist.
I'm an image maker.
I'm a stylist. I'm a creator. I'm a confidant, a businesswoman, a solopreneur, a therapist, an excellent third wheel, a mime, and a dreamer. I'm Melinda Fox and I am a photographer.
Love, Melinda
Photography Studio in Athens PA.
Serving Athens Pennsylvania, Towanda Pennsylvania, Corning New York, and Twin Tiers area.
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