Fort Smith artist uses photography to empower 40 women over 40

Lisa Schwerin has been taking professional portraits for seven years and runs a studio, Picture Perfect Photography.

Schwerin has spent her entire life in the Fort Smith area taking pictures.

“I’ve had a camera in my hand forever," Schwerin said.

In October 2019, she started taking photos of 40 women over the age of 40, what would become a project Schwerin, 53, would only finish more than two years later.

Of the 40 women included in the project, many had never had a professional photo taken since their weddings or graduations, and many never had a professional photo taken at all.

“They take so many pictures of family members and kids and grandkids they forget themselves, and I wanted to show the beauty that that age group has that tends to get overlooked," said Schwerin, a married mother of four.

Part of the project's inspiration stemmed from the fact that she has few photos of her mother.

“What do I have that I can look at of her, you know, that’s there and will be there forever? I’ve got a couple that I've done, but other than that I really don’t have anything. Even her baby picture was ripped in half," Schwerin said.

Melanie Taylor had never had a professional photoshoot before working with Schwerin.

“It was vulnerable, scary, awkward sometimes because you’re in these poses that you’re not quite sure of and just kind of this trusting, trusting that the photographer really knows what she’s doing," Taylor said. "So I think it was, yeah I mean vulnerable I think, really just explains the whole thing because you’re there, you’re in this makeup, and you’re smiling, and your hair’s done, and you’re in your best clothes, and your makeup doesn’t look like what it normally would look like because for the picture, so there’s all this fear at the same time of is this going to turn out, or am I going to look you know I dipped my face in Cheetos."

Taylor found the shoot empowering.

“Throughout the whole day towards the end of it I felt beautiful. I felt beautiful on the inside out, and for me, I think that was one of the first times that I’d ever really seen myself as beautiful," Taylor said.

Taylor owns the Teen Center and Healing Tree Women's Counseling and paid for all her therapists to have their own photoshoots.

Schwerin said throughout her project women rediscovered the beauty within themselves. Her oldest daughter is a stylist and does the makeup for all the clients.

"Each session is also I've noticed it's really uplifting to the person," Schwerin said. "So they come in and they're scared, nervous, worried, 'Am I going to look good? Are these going to turn out okay? But as we go through the session, you can just see them open up and kind of become that beautiful person that I see when I see them initially anyway, but it's, it's just been, I really enjoy getting to know every one of them, and giving them some beautiful images of just them without family in the background."

For Taylor, her favorite part of the process was seeing the photos.

“We spend a lot of time judging ourselves and hating the mole or hating the wrinkle or you know, so to just take a minute and to sit in really just how beautiful we are, is a very freeing feeling," Taylor said.

Showing:

Schwerin's exhibit will have a showing from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. July 29 at Hidden Talent Fine Art Gallery in Fort Sm

Alex Gladden is a University of Arkansas graduate. She previously reported for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and The Jonesboro Sun before joining the Times Record. She can be contacted at agladden@swtimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Artist empowers women over 40