Ask most older women, from famous actors to lifelong homemakers and they will agree: after a certain age, things around us change. Professional and personal opportunities begin to fade as society looks for younger faces. (Although we are often told we ‘look good for our age.’) A professional photographer for 40 years, I turned 70 last year, and had already noticed my own invisible woman stage set in. I wanted to stand up and say I’m still here!

I read in an article on aging that stated, ‘after the Middle Ages, came the Renaissance. The world enjoyed a time of reawakening to the joy and beauty and art of life.

I loved that thought, and started a personal project.

I began photographing and interviewing women my age and older, who are in our own Renaissance. Rather than stepping back and disappearing into old age, we make their own new opportunities and challenges.

Our lives are fun and interesting and fulfilling, in so many different ways. My subjects include a marathon runner, an author, a retired Episcopal priest, and even my 91 year old Mother. We look amazing, and we still have so many stories to tell…

Click on any portrait below to read their stories.

Katie Garlock