Special Feature: Nicole Starr Photography
This week I am so excited to share our next community feature, highlighting Nicole at Nicole Starr Photography! When the website was still coming together, my friend sent me a link to Nicole’s page saying I just had to check out her personal project on Down syndrome because the pictures were absolutely adorable, and she was right! Nicole is a newborn, baby, and family photographer, but she also has a passion for the Down syndrome community and does a beautiful job raising awareness through her photography. Hear from Nicole about what motivated her to start her personal project with her special Down syndrome sessions.
‘‘In 2010, my best friend’s son, Zach, was born with Down syndrome. I’ll never forget the night she told me that her brand new baby boy had DS. Since then, I’ve watched his family and all of their loved ones embark on a journey of love, acceptance, advocacy & change to open doors for Zach and other little ones like him who are blessed with an extra chromosome.
After years with a front row seat witnessing this beautiful story unfold for Zach’s family, I wanted to connect with other local families in the Down syndrome community and hear their stories. I wanted to showcase their amazing children’s personalities and bring their stories to life with the goal of advocating that we’re truly more alike than different.
In 2015, I began gifting sessions to our local DS community for National Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October. It broke my heart when I would hear that families had never done family or baby portraits before because they were worried how a photographer would interact with their child, and I wanted to change that for them and give them an unforgettable experience that showcased their perfect family just as they were. After sharing their stories on my Facebook page and blog, messages flooded in and I realized how many other people’s lives were touched simply by reading these stories and seeing these children with their sparkling eyes, shy smiles, and pure joy shining on their faces.
I’ve been fortunate to connect with so many families since this all began in 2015, and every year I love meeting new families and hearing their stories! I loved collaborating with the National Down Syndrome Society on a “Rockin NDSS Studios” photo session shortly after this project began in 2015 where we photographed dozens of individuals of all ages who rock an extra chromosome. I was invited to help photograph the NDSS Buddy Walk in NYC in 2019 with my best friend, Wendy Zook Photography, the mama whose baby Zach started it all. Standing there in Times Square with her and watching her son see his face up on the Jumbotron was truly a full-circle, unforgettable moment. I remember her telling me that day how she wished she could go back and tell that scared new mom from 2010 how far she'd come in her journey with Down syndrome and how many opportunities she would fight to create for Zach and his peers. It's really been an amazing journey!”
From the moment I saw Nicole’s pictures and read her story, I knew I wanted to do a feature on her. After reaching out to Nicole and telling her about what we were doing at Shout Your Worth, she not only happily agreed to being one of our special features, but also gave us permission to utilize some of her work on our site! Her Down syndrome photo sessions not only focus on sharing the stories of these individual families, but it showcases the beautiful personalities of their children. It’s my opinion that pictures truly tell the best stories and encourage advocacy and inclusion in ways that words sometimes can’t.
Thank you, Nicole, not only for your collaboration with us at SYW, but for the beautiful way you advocate for those in the Down syndrome community.
To see more of Nicole’s work, her Down syndrome sessions, and read the stories of families she’s worked with, visit her at Nicole Starr Photography. You can also follow her on Instagram and on Facebook.