From a distance, I saw a brunette with long, gorgeous hair with a slight duo-tone wearing a white tank top and shorts. Talking to her, I got a brief glimpse of it when her hair shifted just right. She was hesitant. And I knew why. The fact she kept her hair down. Not to frame her face, but to cover it.
And at the end when I said "beautiful" after getting the last exposures, she seemed... skeptical. Not an atypical response, as Lesli responded the same after I got shots of her.
I know acne makes a lot of women and men anxious. It was the case when I was growing up in the 90s. I had issues with it as a teenager and continued to do so until I was into my 30s. And I had anxiety about it as well. It's one of the reasons I always clean it up as best I can in any photos I edit.
And when photographing women today, I've always said I prefer no makeup or light makeup. Because as bad as acne can be, as anxious as I know it can make some people feel, putting makeup on top of that... it not only is not flattering, in the kindest terms, it can actually make a breakout worse.
