The Canadian Gown Tour for Girls
The Canadian Gown Tour for Girls
The Canadian Gown Tour for Girls is a Passion Project of mine. This is a national photography project designed to define and distinguish the young ladies of Canada between the ages of 14 and 18 yrs old. There are 4 or 5 girls being chosen in each province and territory (with the exception of Nunavut) across the country. This is a long term project that will probably take me 3 to 4 years to complete. Girls are chosen from all different ethnic and diverse backgrounds and must "fit the dress" as there is only one! During the winter months each girl will have the opportunity to have her friends and family vote for her image to appear in a National Calendar. The girl with the most votes for each individual province or territory wins a spot. Partial proceeds from the sales of this calendar will be going to support a national charity for Indigenous Women and Girls. After their session with me is complete, it's time to "Sign the Dress!" The liner inside the skirt of the gown is covered in signatures, dates and locations by each of the models who wear it!! It looks like a high school year book and all the models are so excited to have their turn at making their mark on this project in a truly personal way!
I truly believe that Canadian girls need to firmly establish their identity apart from girls in other nations. It has been my personal experience that Canada's young women are, what I would call, quietly fierce. They are kind and sweet but courageous and strong. They have a fairly direct sense of who they are and where they are headed. Although these girls can come across as shy or unassuming, don't be fooled. The young ladies of our nation are growing into rather formidable women who understand that you can be polite without being a pushover and compassionate without being soft. After my first year working on this project I can honestly say that everything I hoped I would find in these girls, I have. They have been welcoming, enthusiastic, kind, warm-hearted, affectionate, thoughtful, determined and FUN!!!!
With 3 provinces done and 9 more to go, I honestly can't wait to meet each and every one of them! Please join me as I travel across the Visually Stunning Country of Canada meeting and photographing some of its lovely daughters in settings that will inspire you to see the incredible nation that I call home.
