In my work as a photographer, I have photographed all sorts of people from all kinds of backgrounds. In these last few years, I have made a niche for myself by photographing both young people and strong women in my community.

From that sourced a project that was truly dear to my heart – the “Shades of Beauty” photography project where I could marry my love for taking inspirational portraits of women and making young women feel empowered through portrait photography. For this project, the specific scope was celebrating all of the different “shades” of skin that we come in.For this project, I did a model call of 10 different models of high school age from 10 different backgrounds including African, African American, Middle Eastern, Asian, Caucasian, Native American, mixed races, Hispanic & South Asian. It came together perfectly and I’ve NEVER seen a group of girls get along SO well.

As an immigrant to this country, a woman, and as a photographer, I couldn’t ask for a project that hit closer to home.

Thank you to my amazing team, Tonasha at Beauty by Tonasha who provided professional hair services, Danica American Beauty South Dakota who provided professional airbrush makeup, and to all of the models, parents, and friends who helped make this shoot a success!

My heart is completely full.

More info: Instagram | Facebook | maggiesweetsphotography.com

As a bonus, here are some behind-the-scenes photos that show how we’ve done it

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