I've spent years photographing women in oceans, lakes, pools and seas. Women in their twenties and women in their seventies. Mothers, daughters, entrepreneurs, creatives, survivors, and women standing at the beginning of entirely new chapters.

While photography may have brought us together, the images have rarely been the most important part. It's the conversations that stay with me. After photographing hundreds of women, there are certain truths that continue to surface again and again, regardless of age, background or circumstance.

1. We are far harder on ourselves than anyone else ever is

I have never photographed a woman who couldn't immediately tell me what she perceived as her flaws. Not one.

Yet the things women criticise most harshly about themselves are often the things nobody else notices, or if they do, they simply don't care. We spend so much time focusing on our perceived imperfections that we forget most people are seeing the whole person, not the individual details we obsess over. As Taryn Brumfitt - founder of Embrace and former Australian of the Year - often says, "It is not our life's purpose to be at war with our body".

2. We offer compassion to everyone except ourselves

Women are remarkably generous with their kindness. We forgive imperfections in our friends, celebrate the uniqueness of others and encourage the people we love to embrace who they are.

Yet we often deny ourselves that same grace. The standards we hold ourselves to are almost always harsher than those we apply to anyone else, and over time that inner criticism can become so familiar we stop questioning it.

3. Most women have forgotten what they actually look like

Not physically, but emotionally.

Many women arrive carrying years of criticism, comparison and conditioning. They've spent so long viewing themselves through the lens of expectation that they've lost sight of who they really are.

Sometimes all it takes is one person reflecting back a different perspective for them to see themselves more clearly. That is often my role as a photographer—not to change how women look, but to remind them of what has been there all along.

4. Self-love isn't a destination

I don't know a single woman who wakes up every day completely in love with herself. Life doesn't work that way.

Self-love isn't something we achieve once and then hold onto forever. It evolves, changes and deepens over time. Some seasons it comes easily, while in others it requires more intention and patience.

The goal isn't perfection. The goal is building a relationship with yourself that can withstand life's inevitable ups and downs.

5. Self-acceptance can begin today

So many women tell themselves they'll feel better about who they are once they've lost weight, changed jobs, found a partner or reached some future milestone.

But self-acceptance doesn't have to wait for a better version of yourself to arrive. You can accept yourself exactly where you are while still working towards growth. The two are not mutually exclusive.

In fact, real growth often becomes easier when it's rooted in self-respect rather than self-criticism.

6. Women need other women

I've watched complete strangers become each other's greatest supporters in a matter of hours.

There is something profoundly healing about being witnessed by women who understand your experience. Whether it's through shared stories, encouragement or simply feeling seen, those connections remind us that we're not alone in what we're carrying.

Connection isn't a luxury. It's a necessity.

7. Our bodies are extraordinary

I've photographed women whose bodies have carried children, recovered from illness, endured surgeries and navigated unimaginable challenges. I've photographed bodies shaped by grief, joy, resilience and life itself.

The more women I photograph, the more convinced I become that our bodies deserve reverence rather than criticism. They are not ornaments. They are living records of everything we've survived, experienced and become.

8. Water is the great equaliser

One of the reasons I love underwater photography is that water seems to remove hierarchy.

The labels soften. The comparisons fade. The things we spend so much time worrying about on land suddenly feel less important.

There is no perfect body underwater. There is only movement, presence and humanity. In water, we are all simply women, suspended in the same element and connected by the same vulnerability.

9. Life moves in chapters

I often think of the nautilus shell, with each chamber existing because of the one before it.

Growth requires expansion, but it also requires honouring where we've been. Every chapter of your life, even the difficult ones, has contributed something valuable to who you are becoming.

We don't outgrow our past selves. We build upon them.

10. The most beautiful women I've photographed are not the most perfect

They're the most present.

They're the women who allow themselves to be seen, who stop performing and start inhabiting their lives. They're the women who understand that beauty is not something to achieve but something to embody.

Perhaps that's the greatest lesson photography has taught me. The things women are searching for were never missing in the first place.

Sometimes they simply need someone to reflect them back.