11/06/2026
During our consultation, Gwen came with a specific inspo for the shoot. But when we got on set, she started feeling a bit off because it wasn't really working for her body type, which is honestly so normal since we're all built differently. So we just scrapped the mood board and went with the flow to create something uniquely her.
But here is the deepest part. While we were talking after the shoot, she opened up and told me she feels like she has a really "ugly" resting face. She literally thought that's just how her face looks naturally, which is why she made a conscious decision to start forcing a smile in all her photos just to hide it.
During the session, I wanted to capture her real essence, so we leaned right into exactly what she was avoiding. I photographed her just resting, no forced smiles, just her natural self.
The crazy part? When she saw the results, her absolute favorite picture from the entire shoot happened to be that exact resting face she felt was so ugly.
It was a total game-changer for her. She told me she loved how the session portrayed what her life has actually been like lately, rather than just a fake smile. Sometimes the thing you're most insecure about is actually your best feature.
Creative Direction // ๐ธ MofavePixels๐ฅ
Makeup: MAKEUP ARTIST IN LAGOS /AGO OKOTA/FESTAC
๐ฝ // Monye Solomon Ebube
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