Kate Parker's daughter Ella, the night before her first triathlon. Photo / Kate T Parker Photography
Kate Parker's daughter Ella, the night before her first triathlon. Photo / Kate T Parker Photography
In a strictly gendered world of pink and blue, one American photographer has set out to show girls as they really are - not how they are expected to be.
Kate Parker's project, "Strong is the New Pretty", started as a way to document the lives of her two young daughters, while further developing her own photographic skills. After about a year, she says the project started to grow into something different .
Ella Parker skateboards while her little sister Alice rides behind. Photo / Kate T Parker Photography
"I started to see patterns and recognise that the images where the girls were authentically captured were the strongest images," she told the Herald online from her home in Roswell, Georgia.
"After seeing this, I started to shoot with that in mind."
The resulting images are refreshing yet familiar, capturing the essence of childhood innocence. The girls jump through sprinklers, climb trees, play sports and get dirty - showing off what Parker describes as their "silly, adventureous, frustrated, happy, loud, athletic, fierce, funny selves".
As well as being a commercial and fine art photographer, Parker is also an athlete and her love of sport is evident in her work.
Members of The Ravens, a girls flag football team that held their own in an all male league. Photo / Kate T Parker Photography
"I grew up playing sports, and the girls I emulated were the girls that were really strong and confident," she told Today.com.
"They didn't have the time to worry about how they looked, and so I came to understand that their worth was determined by something different, something stronger."
One of her photographs shows Parker's nine-year-old daughter, Ella, on the night before her first triathlon. Arms folded, she confronts the camera straight on with a strong, unfaltering stare. It's a powerful and commanding image that sums up the title of the work.
Surfacing. Photo / Kate T Parker Photography
Through her photography, Parker hopes to show her daughters and their friends that strength and character is more important that what society's strict beauty standards deem appropriate for girls and women.
"I wanted to celebrate these girls as they are, not how females are expected to be," says Parker. "Being pretty or perfect is not important. Being who they are is."
Ella, 9, assists her sister Alice, 6, with a loose tooth. Photo / Kate T Parker Photography
And now, her photography may influence other girls around the world to value their authentic selves too.
Check out more of the stunning images on the Herald Life Facebook page
