I am a photographer and I absolutely love my job.

I shoot all the time. You can find me most every day with my camera in my hand shooting.  Depending on the day, I might be focused on my own two girls, an advertising campaign for a corporate client, or personal work. The demands and results of each kind of work is really different.  Being creative in different ways stretches me as a photographer and I wouldn’t have it any other way. However, I’ve found through the years that my favorite kind of work and favorite images to shoot are the pictures that allow my subjects to just be themselves.   Honest images. Images that allow the viewer to see something about who is in them. Images that make you feel something. Images that say something.

Much like my recent project (and soon to be published book!), Strong is the New Pretty focused on allowing girls to be 100% themselves and capturing their power, strength and silliness. My most recent project “The Scars Project” did just the same in a different way. Working with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta on this project was humbling, amazing and one of my favorite shoots to this day. CHOA is my go to place when my kids are sick or banged up and we have frequented there too many times to count, so when they reached out to me about this project, I was all in. The Scars Project was created to highlight the relationship between kids and their scars. Kids who have some serious injuries and setbacks. Kids with some serious scars. Kids who’ve gone through something traumatic, and have come out on the other side stronger and braver for it. Their scars are proof of their battles and they are so proud of them. Unlike adults, who often hide their scars (we all have them, even if they’re not physical scars) these kids were PROUD of their scars. And it was so inspiring.   

Everyone has a “scar”. If we’re honest, probably more than one. Some you can see on a leg or arm or stomach. But some of our “scars” are invisible. But, we all have them. They might be mistakes we’ve made, or things about ourselves that we wish to hide. My hope is that people can recognize their own “scars” and instead of seeing them as flaws or mistakes or something to conceal, we recognize that those “scars” are exactly what make us US. And what makes us beautiful and strong.

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About the Author

Kate T. Parker

Kate Parker is a commercial and fine art photographer, mother and athlete who calls Atlanta home. Her work has been featured in galleries in New York, Boston, and Los Angeles among others. Kate was inspired by her own athletic career, playing collegiate soccer at Wake Forest, she was surrounded by amazing women whose value was not determined by how they looked, rather what they did. She wanted to inspire this same feeling in her own girls and others with her project.