HI, I'M
Marley
I'm a photographer based in Lethbridge, Alberta. I believe everybody is capable of being loved exactly as they are — this very second. Not the version they're working toward. The one that exists right now. My whole job is to find that person and show them to themselves.
We live in a world that is constantly asking us to edit ourselves down. To put forward only the best bits, to work on the rest quietly, to wait until we are more acceptable before we let anyone really look at us. And so we compartmentalize. We show people the version of ourselves we think they can handle. We take off physical layers when what we really want is for someone to see past all of them.
Here's what I know to be true. The parts you have been hiding are not your failures. They are the most interesting things about you. The grief that changed you, the love that broke you open, the version of yourself you are still becoming — all of it is worth seeing. All of it is worth keeping. You are capable of being loved exactly as you are, this very second. Not the version you are working toward. The one that exists right now.
That is what I am looking for when I pick up a camera. Not the polished version. The real one.
The whole of you is worth seeing.
Real love. Real lives.
Real photographs.
the way I see it
Everybody is carrying something gorgeous inside them. The resilience, the tenderness, the complexity, the love. My job is not to create that — it's just to find it. And I always do. I've done enough of my own hard work to not be scared of whatever you bring. The grief, the joy, the parts of yourself you haven't shown anyone yet. You're safe here.
Come a little closer
Every week I write about something that's moving me. Stories from sessions, thoughts on life, the occasional love letter to ordinary moments, about the beauty of paying attention. The kind of thing that doesn't fit in an Instagram caption. Subscribe and I'll meet you there.
