I’m glad you happened by. My name is Alissa Mae, I’m 23, and I’ve been taking photos for as long as I can remember. I’ve always known I loved photography, but I distinctly remember the moments in my life where it became very real for me. The first of these was when I was 17. I was at church and someone came up to me carrying a newspaper. On the front page was a huge photo I had taken, with my name plastered underneath. For the first time ever, it felt like my work mattered to someone other than me. Fast-forward to my first year of college when I entered the university-wide photography competition. A month later, I learned I’d won grand prize. Soon after, my work was published in the international talent magazine PRAZE. I continued building my portfolio and booking shoots with everyone I could. People would tell me, “I don’t like myself in photos, but you make me feel beautiful.” And as someone who has always hated how I looked in photos, I knew I wanted to give people that feeling forever. I threw myself into learning about posing, angles, lighting, the ins and out of the camera, and learning how to make people look and feel as beautiful as possible. Let’s tell your beautiful story together.