Siouxland Magazine - Volume 3 Issue 2

Siouxland Magazine | EXPLORE /50
Gill loves to capture images of her clients in beautiful natural settings.
Body Love Warrior
By Erika Hansen
When photographer and body image activist
Sarah Gill hit her own personal rock bottom in
2017, she had no idea what journey awaited
her. Or the changes she’d experience in her own
development that would give her the vehicle to help
other women transform their own body image and selfesteem
- one picture at a time.
“My own body image has always suffered,” said Gill
during a phone call one chilly morning in January. “I’ve
never been able to fully love my body and love myself
because of that.”
Gill was hospitalized in 2017 for mental health. It was at
that point that a shift began to take place.
Gill said she didn’t originally think about body image
activism. But as she decided to invest in her own
education as a photographer, she attended a workshop
in Philadelphia. She had her photos taken by a boudoir
photographer, an industry she had just recently entered
after the brides she photographed started asking for the
service.
“The photographer in Philadelphia took my pictures
as part of the class, and when I saw them, I realized,
‘Wow, so that’s what I look like.’ Suddenly, I felt like I had
permission to exist. And I realized I needed to do this for
other people.”
“Yoga teacher training coincidentally started two weeks
after getting out of the hospital,” said Gill. “It was divine
timing.”
Gill said she found her power by immersing herself in
the practice of yoga. Through breath and breathing, Gill
said she realized she’s allowed to take up space, and
developed the power to say, “This is who I am, and there
is nothing wrong with this. Finding my voice, I realized
I needed to give people the space I’d been afforded,
so they could feel the same way.” And the momentum
began.
Clients express freedom and release during their sessions.