The world thinks women over 40 are past their prime. This is your chance to prove them wrong.
Over 40 & Fabulous is a portrait project for women 40 and up — by application only.
The culture decided, somewhere around 40, that beauty and sexiness are things women age out of.
It doesn't announce this directly.
It says it through casting. The actress who was a romantic lead at 37 is playing someone's mother at 48. The man she was cast opposite is still a lead. It says it through magazine covers, through advertising, through which women get photographed as desirable and which get photographed as inspiring. It says it through the qualifier that appears whenever a woman over 50 is shown that way: "she looks amazing for her age." The qualifier does the work of confirming the expectation it claims to contradict.
And it says it through portraits. Almost no portraits of a woman at 45 or 55 are made as if she were still the subject. Made as if she were still beautiful and desirable and worth that kind of serious, unhurried attention.
Women tend to absorb this without naming it. They put off having portraits done. They wait until the weight comes off, or until they feel more ready, or until they look more like they did at 35. The waiting becomes permanent.
The thing that stops most women isn't their age. It's the accumulated weight of a message they were never directly sent but received anyway: feeling beautiful and sexy (the real kind, not the kind assigned to roles) belongs to someone younger.
Over 40 & Fabulous was built as a deliberate response to that.
The Over 40 & Fabulous project was created to publicly celebrate women over 40, and to produce images that show the world they are still beautiful and sexy.
Each woman in the project chooses her favorite image, and those images go into a printed project magazine and a public exhibition: real women, over 40, photographed as beautiful and desirable and worth being seen. Where the world can actually see them.
Women who walk through that exhibition and recognize something of themselves in those portraits (women who weren't ready yet) go home with something different than they came with. Some apply for the next cycle. Some tell a friend who was looking for a reason. Some just carry themselves differently.
The women who have been part of this project didn't only do something for themselves. They became part of a public statement that women over 40 are still beautiful and desirable. That's why the magazine exists. That's why the exhibition is public.
Over 40 & Fabulous
Each cycle, we select a small group of women. Each woman gets a fully directed session, and her portraits go into the magazine and the exhibition.
What's included:
Professional makeup with our artist: an hour that belongs entirely to you before the camera is picked up
Wardrobe guidance — we help you figure out what to bring and what will work on camera
A fully guided session in our studio: every pose directed, every set chosen with you in mind. You will not need to know what to do.
A fine art 11×14 print of your favorite image from the session
A feature in our printed project magazine alongside the other women in the project
Two tickets to our public exhibition, where your portraits are shown alongside the other women in the project
To reserve your spot: $149 — your session fee reserves your shoot date and is added as additional print credit at your ordering appointment, on top of the credit already included in your package.
Spots in each cycle are limited.
Who we're looking for
Women 40 and over — every size, shape, ethnicity, and background. The woman who hasn't liked what she's seen in the mirror in years. The woman who has never done anything like this. The woman who almost didn't apply.
The one requirement is that you're willing to sign a release for at least one image. Your portrait goes into the magazine and the exhibition — that's the whole point of the project. Appearance is not a factor in acceptance.
Spots in each cycle are limited.
"For the first time in a long time, I saw myself as being beautiful. I even questioned — 'Is that me?'" — Ms. J
"I finally looked in the mirror and saw the dazzling woman everyone else already knew was there." — Ms. V
"I never realized I could be so sexy." — Ms. S
"I'm not a petite, well-proportioned woman, but I'm beautiful just as I am." — Ms. D
"Do it for you. Don't wait until you feel ready or until you've lost the weight or fixed what you think needs fixing. You are already worthy of being seen, celebrated, and captured exactly as you are right now." — Ms. L
"You wouldn't think that sitting there without a stitch of clothing in front of strangers would feel so… freeing. But it was!" — Ms. T
The team
Mike has been photographing women for over a decade. He reads light, shape, and expression. He directs every pose in detail: where to put your hands, how to angle your body, where to look. His job is to make you look your best.
Angi handles styling and wardrobe, then co-directs the session with Mike. If a pose needs a small adjustment, she'll catch it. If it needs showing rather than explaining, she'll show it.
Before either of them picks up a camera, our makeup artist Amanda has already spent an hour with you in the chair. Nerves usually start to settle there.
We're both in our 50s. We've photographed women at every size, starting point, and story. The woman who walks in nervous and the woman who walks in ready produce the same portraits when the team knows what it's doing. The nerves settle. She stays.
How it works
1. Apply Tell us about yourself. We read every application and select a small group for each cycle. Spots in each cycle are limited.
2. Show up Professional makeup, wardrobe guidance, a fully directed session. Most of the work is done for you. We'll figure out the rest.
3. See yourself At your ordering appointment, you'll see every image from your session. You decide what to keep. Most women can't stop at one.
Applications are open. Spots in each cycle are limited.
If you've been thinking about this longer than you want to admit, that's the sign.
Start your application
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