Portraits of facial differences advocate, Chelsey Peat
Photo Ⓒ Laura Sosner Photography Inc. All rights reserved.
Photo Ⓒ Laura Sosner Photography Inc. All rights reserved.
The absolute best thing about being a portrait photographer is the people I’ve had the privilege of meeting and photographing along the way. Chelsey Peat is one of them. Our paths first crossed in late 2021 when I read an article by her on the CBC. Titled “A kiss from my daughters takes away my fears about my purple skin,” Chelsey’s article provides a moving look into what it’s like to look different in a world that seems to value sameness above all else. (You can read Chelsey’s article here, and I highly recommend it- though beware, it will likely leave you feeling very angry with the human race).
Photo Ⓒ Laura Sosner Photography Inc. All rights reserved.
After reading Chelsey’s article, I had the strongest impulse to reach out to her to see if I could photograph her (it was only later that I found out Chelsey’s story has been featured internationally in publications like the Daily Mail as well as on the Maury Povich show). Chelsey is also a facial differences advocate and is a Global Ambassador for the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation. While I unfortunately don’t have a lot of time for personal projects these days, photographing Chelsey was something that I wanted to do very badly. It was of course due in part to her article, but my desire to get her in front of my camera also sprang from the fact that Chelsey is one of the most uniquely beautiful people I’ve ever seen. She’s arresting and I simply wanted to have her portrait in my portfolio.
Photo Ⓒ Laura Sosner Photography Inc. All rights reserved.
I sent Chelsey an email and received a lovely response from her- she was up for me photographing her, but told me she lived in Alberta with her family about 2 hours south of Calgary and the last time she had been out my way to Vancouver was a long time ago. Truth be told, I wanted to photograph Chelsey so much I would have self-funded a trip before the end of the year to do so, but as luck would have it, I didn’t need to. Cut to July, 2022 when I found myself in Calgary on short notice and things aligned so that we were able to make a session happen.
Most of my work these days is studio-based, but because I was flying to Calgary, I knew I’d be fairly limited on the amount of gear I’d have at my disposal. I decided to bring an off-camera flash, my camera and a piece of black material to use as a backdrop. In the end, we got lucky with the weather and had lots of sunlight to play with and I didn’t even need my flash. It was later afternoon when I photographed Chelsey. The light was low enough in the sky to work nicely in our favor and it created the backlighting you see here.
It was a beautiful afternoon getting to hang out with Chelsey. I’m so grateful to have these portraits in what is a never-ending quest to have a diverse and inclusive portfolio. Thank you so much for letting me photograph you, Chelsey ❤️.