Mom teaches daughters 'Strong is the new pretty' through photo shoots

ATLANTA -- When Kate Parker's daughters get ready for a photo shoot, you won't find them primping in the mirror. You'll probably find them playing in the mud.

Parker's photo series, "Strong is the New Pretty," is all about empowering her daughters and other young girls to feel comfortable in their own skin, whether that involves climbing a tree, catching a lizard or sticking their faces out the window.

"There's a lot of pressure for girls (and women) to look a certain way, act in certain manner," said Parker, a photographer from Atlanta. "I wanted to celebrate these girls as they are, not how females are expected to be."

Parker told ABC that the project, which is now getting shared around the Internet, was initially for personal use.

"This project started as a desire to record my daughters and the memories of their childhood, as well as practice with my camera and different lighting situations, environments, times of day, etc," she said.

From the seemingly random moments she captured, she said, a message emerged.

"I started to see patterns and recognize that the images where the girls were authentically captured were the strongest images," she said.

In the end, she said, the photographs are about authenticity. She hopes this will help her girls and others feel self-assured in whatever they do.

"It is a series of photographs showing my two young girls, as well as their friends, just as they are - loud, athletic, fearless, messy, joyous, frustrated," she said. "I wanted to celebrate them, just as they are, and show them that is enough. Being pretty or perfect is not important. Being who they are is."

See more on Parker's website and Facebook page.

Images used with permission.