Me, in my beloved New Mexico. (Self-portrait, 2015)
My name is Lori Maloney …and I believe that:
Every woman deserves a portrait she loves. YOU deserve a portrait YOU LOVE.
How many of us are putting off being in pictures? The common refrains include: when I lose 10, or 20, or 50 lbs…when my hair grows out…when I’m past this divorce…when I gain more self-confidence…when I’ve paid for the kids’ extra-curriculars, or books, or tuition…people will think I’m vain…I’m not photogenic…”
Well, ladies, I’m here to tell you – from first hand experience – stop waiting to put yourself at the top of your priority list! You are beautiful right now and you deserve to be celebrated. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring and so let’s seize the day, embrace our inherent beauty and uniqueness, and celebrate all we are in this world!
We lost my mom in the fall of 1997 to liver failure caused by Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer…she was only 52. We didn’t have a photo of her that I knew she loved and having to publish her obituary with a snapshot was incredibly difficult. These many years later I still mourn that we don’t have a portrait of her that SHE loved. Mom, despite having a ‘snap-happy’ father and daughter, actively avoided being in pictures. I don’t think she felt beautiful, even though that’s all I saw when I looked at her. I wish that she’d had an opportunity to be shown her own beauty through a professional portrait…I wish she’d seen what we saw. I wish I could have done that for her, and for us.
My journey to * lori maloney photography * is traceable…I dove into general portraiture in 2010 with my first studio, Bella Faccia Photography. I enjoyed the work immensely, but my eyes were opened in 2011 when two significant things happened: I had my first session photographing a woman with the sole purpose of celebrating HER, and I also experienced my own personal boudoir shoot. These two, seemingly random, opportunities crystallized for me both:
the joy I feel when working with women
AND
the profound & positive impact a portrait session can have on a woman!
In 2012 I chose to pivot my business toward women, full stop.
Shortly thereafter, with my personal experiences guiding me, and with a very special nod to my mom and all she meant to me; in 2013, I opened a division of my company called Bella Forza Portraits, providing portraits to women who were facing or who had faced serious illness. I hoped to help these women celebrate their strength, beauty, and grace - both through the experience of the session and the resulting images…whether she was newly diagnosed and wanted to preserve the memory of how she looked before treatment, or she was in the middle of her courageous fight and wanted a record of it, or if she’d walked through the fire and wanted something tangible celebrating her phoenix rising chapter… above all, I wanted her to feel seen, heard, and celebrated.
Mom & Me, mere months before we’d lose her. (Spring 1997)
I believe, deep in my soul, that the opportunity to be professionally photographed in a warm and compassionate setting can be healing and can buoy a woman’s spirits in an incredibly unique way. Truth is that I want that for all women, which is why…
Me, boudoir session with Bryan F. Peterson. (May 2011)
I am thrilled to have now combined my visions for Bella Faccia Photography and Bella Forza Portraits into: Lori Maloney Photography. It is my deep desire to help women see what others see in them: their courage, their grace, their strength, their tenacity, their sparkle, their resilience, their grit, their personality…their beauty. My chosen mandate is for us to create a portrait together that celebrates YOU (or the woman you love and wish to gift this experience to), in whatever way is most meaningful to YOU/HER…perhaps it’s a portrait in the park with your hair blowing in the wind, maybe it’s a fine art nude celebrating your body and all she does for you, maybe you’ve just received a diagnosis and you want to immortalize how you look before treatment, maybe you’d like a portrait with your beloved & most loyal furry companion, maybe you’ve just walked your own ‘fire’ and wish to celebrate your own survivorship, maybe you want a stunning headshot for social media, or maybe you just need a day of being pampered in studio while we create whatever portrait is waiting for us to ‘chisel from the marble’…my sole desire is to honour you and your journey. I love this work and I believe it is incredibly powerful for all involved.
I promise to do my very best to deliver an experience that empowers you, that puts a spring in your step, that allows you time and space to celebrate YOU, and that allows us to hold up a mirror to you showing you just how beautiful you are —> you deserve a portrait you love.
xo Lori