Hello, ladies! This is Kate Andreya and this is (eh-hem Finally 🙂 my very first blogpost after a few years. It comes from the bottom of my heart and I am hoping to give you an insight into the depth of my work, my brand, my mission. Why I chose to photograph women in Washington DC area and tell their stories through art the way I do.

Why I am hoping to influence how you view yourself as a woman, how you view your relationship with other women and why it is important to remember where we all come from and why we should support each other, rather than compete or judge each other based on our appearances.

The most profound part of my work I find to be the difference between most women’s perception of themselves when they come to do a shoot with me and my perception of them. They often stand there excited yet still eaten by insecurities about their wrinkles, their cellulite, their pimples or stomach rolls, you name it…

While I stand there eaten by the overwhelming love I feel towards them, and honestly towards all the generations of women who walked this Earth before us.

How long we’ve come as women…Centuries of violence and discrimination that continues to this day in pretty much all parts of the world.

Have you ever realized that women have been oppressed for so long that it even transcribes in our languages? You will be described as someone who has “balls” to compliment you on your courage and yet you will be called a “pussy” if you are viewed as weak…

Just let that sink in for a moment…How can the ones who bring new souls into this world be called weak?

I am convinced that men would have iconized themselves if they were the ones to give birth and we all would have to worship them, or do we already?

And what about the double standards in being able to freely express your emotions? How is it that in situations most men would be called “outspoken” and “tough”, a woman would be called a “bitch” or “psycho”?

So if you ask me what I see when I look at women, I do not see the wrinkles, and the rest of the fuzz because I look deeper.

Instead, I am thinking about how much these women do everyday, how hard they work to be financially independent and successful in the patriarchal society. How strong they are, how they learned to play by the rules of modern world and yet they continue to remain feminine and caring. They continue to be this shining light at home as lovers, as artists, as wives and as mothers…Juggling so many things all at once Women try and actually do succeed in doing it all, while most men just remain…well…men….

Why I became a photographer for women in Washington DC? Why I became a Boudoir Photographer in Washington DC? Why not a fashion photographer or a product photographer? Why not a wedding photographer, as so many people advised since it is considered to be the most profitable niche in photography.

I decided to photograph women because it matters. We matter. More than we allow ourselves to. Because I deeply admire women and the stories all and each of them has to tell.

On a very subconscious level we All are connected by having the same experiences, the same historical heritage and the same struggles that generations of women before us have gone through… in fact, still going though.

To me, Women are the pillars of the world.

So again, it is not the wrinkles, the cellulite, the quality of skin that define us…It is our strength along with our vulnerability that define us. It is decisions to pursue our dreams that define us. It is our kindness, our hope and our perseverance that define us.

My purpose and the purpose of my brand is to be able to show you just that. To encourage you to value yourself because you truly deserve it but also to value and respect other women because we all have much more in common than we often realize. So let’s be kind to ourselves and be kind to others like us.

“Be kind whenever possible. it is always possible.” Dalai Lama”