Shanna and Family | Inspira(shown)

Every month, I give people the opportunity to nominate a deserving person in their life for a free photoshoot with me as part of my Inspira(shown) project. In May I received this nomination. I would tell the story in my own words… but honestly reading this made me want to cry, so I thought sharing it might be more powerful: “In everyone’s lives, they come across a person that inspires them. Whether they tell the person or not is their decision to make. My person is Shanna. She is a junior in high school and my very best friend. Every day, Shanna drives to school in her mom’s minivan, taking her autistic little brother and then herself and her younger sister to school. Her little brother is in middle school. He is obsessed with lions. There have been many occasions I’ve been over at Shanna’s house, and spent the entire afternoon helping him set up his Wii. He is the the most positive little kid I’ve ever met. She loves him dearly too. Lots of times I call her over to my house and she says “I can’t. I’m babysitting my brother while my mom is at school.” She doesn’t say it with a bad attitude at all. Her mom is one of my favorite people. She loves her children with all her heart. She works hard every day to give them exactly what they need, while going to school at the same time. I can only imagine what kind of stress that puts on a person. Now, Shanna doesn’t only inspire me because she’s a wonderful person, and not because she’s nice to everyone. Shanna inspires me because when she’s at her lowest, she manages to bring everyone else to the top. I’ve never heard her utter a mean word to a person in my life. In every second of existence, she puts herself to the fullest using what she has. She is constantly giving to everyone in ways that I didn’t know were possible, and this is how I would like to give back to her. For being the friend that I’ve needed all these years and for being a person who really knows how to live life how it’s supposed to be lived. I want this for her because a person like that deserves to be photographed, so the rest of the world can see her beauty. Inside AND out.” Wow. I definitely had to photograph this girl after reading that. And meet her awesome bff. Talk about an amazing friend! Let me tell you, they were just as awesome in person. Shanna, you are stunning

Thank you Samm for the nomination! I loved meeting all these fantastic, beautiful people! If you are interested in nominating someone for a free photoshoot, please don’t hesitate to apply! Here’s the link: blog/about/inspirashown/