Tanya

For most of her life, Tanya has been the person everyone else could count on. The one who puts others first. The one who offers encouragement, a listening ear, a helping hand, and a place where people feel safe. She has spent years giving to her family, her community, and to those who have needed someone in their corner. Resilience has become part of who she is, but under the weight of life she started to feel lost. With her children now adults, she finds herself standing at the beginning of a new chapter. A chapter filled with an unfamiliar question: Who am I, beyond the roles I've spent a lifetime embracing?

There comes a season when the children need you less, life begins to slow just enough for you to catch your breath, and you suddenly realise you've spent years nurturing everyone else's story while your own has quietly waited in the background. It's easy to believe that celebrating yourself should come later. Later, when you're more confident. Later, when you lose the weight. Later, when life isn't so busy. Later, when you feel more deserving. And perhaps the women who deserve to be celebrated the most are the very ones who have spent years making everyone else feel loved, supported and seen.

This session wasn't about creating perfect photographs. It was about recognising the incredible woman Tanya already is and giving her permission to step into this next season with confidence. It was an honour to capture this part of your journey Tanya, thank you.

We have a few spaces left in our 12 Women Project, apply at www.sarahleestudio.co.nz/12-women-project