“Beyourownvogue to me actually resonates quite strongly. In a world where we are bombarded with thousands of messages a day telling us “who we should be” “what we should own” and “what we should look like” I think now is the time to flip the story and make ourselves our own stars and ideal. I remember a time when I would scroll Instagram and see all these people posting perfect lives and I would just compare myself to them and feel horrible. I used to complain that I didn’t have the “required” insta boyfriend to take all my photos and therefore I couldn’t be as valuable. That I was at a disadvantage. But one day I decided to .. well frankly... stop being an absolute idiot with the way I perceived things. I decided to learn photography. I fell in love with the craft and as I started to take photos of myself as the subject, I kind of .. fell in love with myself. Not so much on a superficial front, although it did help my confidence so much to see that I could be the subject of such beautiful photos, but with my creativity. My boldness. My lack of care about outside criticism. What happened as a result was that I stopped even comparing myself to the people I saw online. I respected them but I became, and still am, so into my creative journey in art direction and photography that all I see is myself. I celebrate myself as a goddess, both muse and creator. And I’m not even afraid of how bold that statement is or whether it will be perceived as narcissism because I believe we are all that great. If we can celebrate and love all that we are, whilst supporting and encouraging others without comparison, that to me is what it means to beyourownvogue.”
Mez Gallifuoco