My very first job as a photographer was for a newspaper. This is where I totally fell in love with the idea of doing this for the rest of my life. I loved being on assignment, rushing to meet a deadline and sharing my images with a community on a daily basis. This also meant that I was critiqued by an entire community on a daily basis, which was one of the best experiences I could have had right off the bat. As time has gone on, it seems like more of the commercial and editorial work I've been getting hired for is a little more glamorous, a little more controlled and very scheduled. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this, but when I got a call from the Art Director over at Metro about this story (and another I'll be blogging about tomorrow), I was instantly in love...I was back on assignment! In the current issue of Metro Magazine, I have two stories that are very documentary. The first is all about female body builders and their lives. Beyond the group shot that was published, I tried to get to every woman's home/work life, as well as their gym time. It was fascinating to learn about their lifestyle, routines and very calculated schedules to get ready for competition. Each of the women I photographed were in training and 'leaning out' over the course of several weeks to be in-shape, and as we imagine body-builders being! It was also kind of nice to know that these women aren't always at 1% body fat and that they do enjoy a giant bowl of pasta! The coolest thing I took away from being with these ladies was their sense of community and encouragement amongst competitors. Most of these women know each other, share trainers and are true friends, beyond the stage!
Of course, in the pages of the magazine, only a few photos make-the-cut to get published, so I wanted to share more of the story of being a female body builder! Enjoy!
