LionHorse Productions

This has been an amazing journey.  Thank you to all the women who trusted me and allowed me to share your stories, sometimes without really knowing who I was or what I was going to do with them.  Thank you to all my friends and family for your encouragement and support and unconditional understanding when it came to making time to find a woman to photograph everyday.  Special thanks to my husband, Tom, who sat quietly by each night while I processed the photos and posted to my blog.  There was one night when I wasn’t feeling particularly motivated and I asked him if it would be acceptable to just post two photos the next day.  He asked me back, “How will you feel tomorrow if you did that?”  And it was all he needed to say.  I went out and met one of my neighbors and photographed her.

On December 4th we will be hosting a completion celebration featuring an exhibit of all 365 photographs.  Details will be released soon, but please do save the date for this very special occasion, especially all the women who participated in the project.  It will be incredible to have you all come together in person and connect over the common idea of inspiration!

Much love, Andrea.

P.S.  I am honored to have received some exciting media attention around the completion of the project.  Please check out the latest copy of Portland Woman and a big thank you to Marie, the editor, for recognizing the heart of this project.

Day 365:

WOW!  It was such a rush just to type that number – 365 photographs posted with not one day missed throughout the entire last year.  And today, for no reason other than I met her and she was so fun and engaging, I chose Sylvia, the accordion and spoon player at the German restaurant where we decided to celebrate this accomplishment.  But that’s what this project is about – highlighting women who I encounter every day and honoring them through photography and recognition.

Sylvia has been playing the accordion since she was 10 years of age and she recently turned 60.  She said that she is “honored to be a girl” and it sounded like she started her own accounting business just so she could show the boys that she could do it (yes, she plays the accordion AND does accounting).  She sang a song in my honor, thanks to my girlfriends who requested that we celebrate in style, and started off the evening with toasts, followed by more toasts and singing!

Thank you, Sylvia, for being the 365th woman photographed.  Thank you to all my friends and family who supported and encouraged me throughout this process.  Thank you to everyone who followed along and shared the women in your lives with me.  Thank you to all the women who allowed me to photograph them and who shared their stories of inspiration, accomplishment and joy.

I’m not sure that I’ll be able to stop photographing women so please don’t look at this as the end, but as the beginning of a lifelong journey to becoming the best portrait photographer of women that I can be.

Day 364:

“What inspires me:

The love I have for my closest friends and family.  The kindness and warmth that comes with that love, and the profound desire to care and be cared for by those you love and whom love you.  Also my sister, who is physically and mentally handicapped from birth, despite all her challenges, enjoys, appreciates and loves life more than anyone I have ever met.

Effortless happiness and love for life and those in it.”

- Jess, who I met today on my way home from work in Georgetown.

Day 363:

I met Patsy in 2007 when The Department of Justice bestowed upon her the Special Courage Award, and a few weeks later the FBI honored her with their Strength of the Human Spirit Award for her continued efforts toward justice for victims of crime.  I interviewed her for the tribute videos that were produced for the award ceremonies and instantly fell in love with her.  She has traveled the world as a teacher for international schools, yet for all her wisdom and experience, she is forever approachable and humble.  She survived a terrorist attack that left her husband and fellow school teachers dead, yet she is the embodiment of compassion and love and happiness.  After the attack she worked in partnership with the FBI to bring the terrorists to justice and still refers to the agents assigned to her case as “her agents.”

I admire her strength and kindness more than words can say and am truly grateful that she calls me her friend and makes time to see me whenever I am in Washington, D.C., where she now works for the State Department coordinating services for other victims of crime.   She is photographed below in the middle of the “world” outside the National Archives and above in the metro next to a map of the District.

Day 362:

“I love marketing for Eco Friendly Foods because I like bringing fresh, healthy meats and eggs to my customers.  And I’ve met the most wonderful people! (i.e. Reg)”

- Stacy Hecker, Marketing Director for Eco Friendly Foods, photographed Sunday morning at the farmers market near Dupont Circle.  Her effervescent personality was magnetic and her crush on Reg, the handsome gentleman who works at the stand across the way, was endearing.