Beautiful McKenna

• Published September 4th, 2009 by Michele Celentano
• 9 Comments

Beautiful McKenna-

Imagine being a young girl and having no hair. Totally bald, no eye lashes or eye brows.   So many of us are attached to our hair.  Men spend millions every year for hair replacement treatments.  We as women spend hours on our hair, we cut, color, highlight, low light, tease, curl, and straighten.  As adults we would have a very hard time living without hair. 
For McKenna this is her life.  A beautiful 10 year old girl who is hairless. 
McKenna has an autoimmune disease called alopecia.  There are different degrees of the disease and I’m not educated enough on the subject to know all the details - however I do know McKenna.

I am proud to know McKenna! Her courage, strength and spirit are immeasurable.  She could wear wigs to blend in with other children and society in general but she chooses not to.
She is funny, smart, outgoing and completely comfortable in her own skin - her own bald skin.  She has the kind of confidence that we as adults could all use a lesson in.

McKenna is not shy or embarrassed by her disease.  When she is out in public she will notice when strangers are staring at her and boldly explain why she is bald.  She says,
“I’m just like you without hair”. She has a way of making you feel comfortable around her instantly and is happy to explain to other children about her alopecia.

This session is the 3rd or 4th time I have photographed her and it is always such a joy.  It occasionally takes some coaxing on my part to get her to be creative with me and let me wrap her in fabric or put gigantic eye lashes on her and in the end she is always happy she did.

This session was done for a new website her mother Tracey is creating for an alopecia organization to help find a cure.  I’ll let you know when it is live so you can check the site out.

I had an idea for McKenna of creating dramatic eyes for her. I knew I wanted to create big eyelashes and play with make-up.  Every little girl loves to have her make-up done.  At first she was really nervous about me putting the lashes on her and she really didn’t want to do it.  Finally, she gave in. I began to apply her make-up and she kept peeking in the mirror getting more and more excited.  With the jumbo eyelashes in place McKenna lit up like the sunshine, she LOVED having the lashes on and asked her mom if she could keep them on for the rest of the day. That moment made my day.  It was amazing to see her enjoy and embrace her own beauty. 

There are always clients who don’t like being photographed because they have gotten older and wrinkled, they have gained a few pounds, they have a blemish on their face, or any number of reasons people choose not to embrace themselves exactly as they are.

McKenna in her youth and advanced maturity lives and breathes what it means to be confident and comfortable with herself despite having something most of us would have trouble dealing with.  She proudly  stands in front of my camera enjoying having her photograph taken because she is Beautiful!

McKenna, you are one of my favorite people on the planet.  You teach the world around you everyday that true beauty lies deep within the spirit and when the spirit shines we are all perfectly beautiful.
 
With love and gratitude your friend,

Michele