Meet Kristen. She is Beauty Revived with Mattie Callahan Photography.

This session means so much to me.  It is a testament to what a wonderful group of photographers can do when they come together.  One of our photographers in our Beauty Revived Facebook group saw Kristen’s story on the news and posted about Kristen in the group.  By the end of the day, Mattie Callahan volunteered to contact Kristen and offer her a photo session.  Amazing!!

Photography by Mattie Callahan Photography

A simple post on Facebook to sell last year’s prom dress made Kristen, an 18-year old high school senior in White House, TN practically famous. Hoping to sell the gorgeous deep purple sparkly dress, which she bought originally because it made her feel like a princess, she posted it to a local Facebook Buy-sell-trade group. She hoped someone would buy the dress and feel as beautiful in it as she had, and that she’d make enough money to find another beautiful dress for this year’s prom. Instead, she was cruelly attacked by internet bullies, who made several mean comments about her appearance and told her she wasn’t beautiful. Instead of shrinking back, even though the comments were hurtful, Kristen stood up for herself. Taking the high road, she politely asked them to stop. Within minutes her entire community came to her defense online, telling her she was beautiful and putting the bullies to shame. The post had hundreds of comments.

But that wasn’t the end. The dress still for sale, her story went viral; it was picked up by local and national news, including CNN, Huffington Post, Seventeen Magazine, Cosmopolitan, NBC News, and the NY Daily News. The bravery she showed by standing up to the bullies with maturity and grace beyond her 18 years inspired many supporters to send her positive messages about how beautiful she is, inside and out. She quickly maxed out her number of “friends” on Facebook, because so many people related to her story of online bullying and wanted to connect or simply tell her that she is beautiful. To say the last few months have been a whirlwind for Kristen would be an understatement. She travelled to New York, was interviewed by Inside Edition, and supporters from all over the US donated funds for her to buy a new dress for her senior prom, allowing her to generously gift the purple dress she’d been trying to sell to another girl in need of a beautiful princess dress for her own prom.

When I heard her story, I was also inspired by Kristen’s self-confidence and her determination to stand up for herself with grace and dignity. I was impressed that a teenager would handle the situation with more tact and maturity than some adults! I reached out and asked if she’d allow me to tell her story through the Beauty Revived campaign. Kristen’s wish was to have a prom session with her best friends, who have supported her unconditionally. Kristen has a huge heart and her positive energy is simply infectious. I was so happy to meet this inspiring young lady and her friends, Kristen truly is beautiful inside and out! She has a fierce love for her friends and family, enjoys doing hair and makeup, and plans to marry Justin Bieber some day. After graduation, she plans to attend Cosmetology school, where she will be learning skills that will help other women feel beautiful! I know she’ll be great.

These images of Kristen and her friends captured before the prom tell the story of friendship, unconditional love, and the power of loving yourself and standing up for yourself when faced with adversity. I am so honored to have met her and be a tiny part of this story of a gorgeous girl, who rose above those who intended to hurt her and blessed so many with her spirit, confidence and beauty!  This is Kristen, she and her friends are Beauty Revived.