Becky Lamich is a junior with plans to graduate in May 2015 with a double-major in Electronic Media & Film and Women & Gender Studies. Lamich has a real talent for photography and is currently working on a project that promotes natural beauty and encourages women to be confident and love themselves. Her photographs have been splashed all over the Internet recently, so we decided to dig a little deeper and find out what she and her project were all about.
Major: Electronic Media & Film and Women & Gender Studies
Hometown: Laurel, MD (HoCo baby!)
Favorite TV Shows: Supernatural, The Office, Game of Thrones, Grey’s Anatomy, The Vampire Diaries, American Horror Story, Gossip Girl
Clubs/Organizations: Lambda Kappa Tau, Sexual Assault Peer Educator, Photographer for Campus Rec Services
Favorite Place to Eat on Campus: Kappa Sushi
Favorite Place to Chill on Campus: The Media Center!
Favorite Music Genre: Indie/Rock/Alternative and Pop
What made you decide to start this project? I’ve been practicing photography for about 7 years now and I just wanted a new project to work on. I think one day I was just looking at myself in the mirror after I had taken a shower. My hair was a mess and you could see all of my blemishes because I didn’t have any eye make-up on (I hate when I don’t have eye make-up on). Suddenly, I realized that I shouldn’t be so hard on myself about the way I look. I think a lot of girls feel like they have to use cosmetics, hair products and styling tools to look a certain way all of the time. We often get told that “natural beauty” is the best but what people mean when they say “natural beauty” is a girl who has blemish free, glowing skin and long voluminous lashes without the help of cosmetics. And a lot of us just don’t look like that!
Lamich with makeup.
Lamich without makeup.
Why do you think the Natural Beauty photo shoot project is important? I think we forget sometimes that if we didn’t have the cosmetics industry in our society everyone would look natural (like actually natural), and we’d just have to accept the fact that people have blemishes, spotty skin, dry patches and eyes that aren’t exactly the same size. But it’s become so expected that everyone, especially women, have to look “perfect” all of the time. That’s completely unreasonable and unfair to a woman’s self esteem. I created this project so my female friends could celebrate their natural beauty and see themselves how I see them every single day, which is beautiful—even with any flaws they have! It’s a celebration of our individual beauty and the flaws that make us each unique.
What is the idea of each photo shoot? Basically, the idea is to portray them looking as if they just got out of the shower; wet, un-styled hair, no make-up, and bare shoulders. As it got shared around Facebook, it completely took off! So many girls wanted to participate. It was really exciting and I realized this was becoming much more than a photo shoot. I’ve had several girls tell me that taking these photos made them feel beautiful and it helped their self-esteem, and that makes me feel amazing and so happy. I think this project is important because while make-up and cosmetics can be an awesome confidence booster, we don’t need to rely on them to make us feel beautiful as women. We ARE beautiful, each and every one of us, and we can empower ourselves by celebrating our beauty and individuality.
I would definitely like to point out that although this particular project is designed to empower women and tackles women’s issues with the cosmetics industry, I am not by any means implying that men and those who identify with different genders do not also suffer self-esteem issues at the hands of the cosmetics and marketing industries. At some point in their lives everyone feels like they are supposed to look a certain way or fit a certain mold to meet impossible expectations of “beauty” or “normality”. Someday I’d very much like to bring attention to those issues, too.
The original eight women Lamich photographed.
“Anyone, all races and ages included, who identify as a woman are invited to participate in this photo shoot! If readers would like to get in contact with me the best way is through my student e-mail address: rlamic1@students.towson.edu.”
Photos sent directly from Becky Lamich. We would like to wish Becky the best and thank her for her willingness to take this interview! We love your project and hope that our readers feel empowered like the several women you have photographed. You can view more of her wonderful work here.