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Ruby Wallace-Ewing, owner of Ruby Jean Photography, looks through her rack of costumes and hand-made crowns she uses in her photoshoots at her home in Biddeford. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald The photoshoot that changed everything almost didn’t happen. Photographer Ruby Wallace-Ewing had just quit her content creation job to launch her wedding photography business when the pandemic hit, effectively canceling the 2020 wedding season.
Bored and unable to work, she spent her evenings on the beach doing creative photoshoots with her sister. Enchanted by a flowing sheer, sparkly dress she saw for rent, Wallace-Ewing ordered it in hopes of photographing her sister wearing it on the beach. It arrived late on the only day they could make it happen.
They raced to Biddeford Pool, arriving just as the sun dipped low on the horizon, filling the sky with blue and purple light that reflected off the gown’s crystals. “It was divine timing,” said Wallace-Ewing, who runs Ruby Jean Photography from her home in Biddeford. Connie Troumbley of Buxton won a goddess photoshoot last year.
Photo courtesy of Ruby Jean Photography She posted the photos on social media and the positive response was instantaneous. Photos of her 89-year-old grandmother wearing a flowy gown and crown that evokes rays of sun shared in a post soon after went viral and the whimsical “goddess” photoshoots were born. During the shoots, women wear gowns and crowns they choose from Wallace-Ewing’s collection and pose in ways that make them look and feel like goddesses, she said.
As she posted photos and video from more goddess photoshoots, it was clear that the ones of older women resonated with people of all ages, she said. She began photographing older women she knew, including her other grandmother, and people started hiring her for goddess photoshoots. The women Wallace-Ewing photographs, sometimes alone and sometimes in small groups, come from all walks of life.
They are mothers and grandmothers, sisters, career women, caregivers and friends. Many seek out the experience to celebrate major life milestones or accomplishments. For the women who are photographed and share their stories with Wallace-Ewing, the experience provides moments of empowerment, confidence and healing.
“They were stepping outside of their everyday lives, shedding insecurities and allowing themselves to be the center of something magical,” she said. Wallace-Ewing shows off the first crown she made. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald Wallace-Ewing recently launched the Goddess Project, which aims to raise $20,000 to offer 12 free photoshoots for women over 70 who might not otherwise be able to pay for the experience, which typically costs about $1,250.
She plans to create a calendar and hopes the project will lead to her first gallery show. She is accepting applications from people interested in participating — she is committed to featuring a diverse group of women — and collecting donations through buymeacoffee.com , a crowdsourcing website for creatives.
Connie Troumbley, 70, of Buxton had never done a professional photoshoot until last year, when her daughter entered an essay contest to win a free goddess session with Wallace-Ewing. In November, they met at a studio in Biddeford where Troumbley posed in flowing tulle gowns and elaborate crowns. For some photos, she wore iridescent oversized wings.
Troumbley, a reiki practitioner and spiritual life coach, said Wallace-Ewing put her at ease and “didn’t sit in judgment of me being an older woman who is so playful and childlike.” “As older women, we sometimes become very invisible and if we’re paid attention to, it’s in a condescending manner,” she said. “Bringing out goddess energy is a great gift Ruby has.
She makes it magical.” A post shared by RUBY JEAN | Maine Goddess Photographer (@rubyjeanphotography) Wallace-Ewing said she is inspired by the women she photographs, but it’s always bothered her that some people may love to have the experience but never be able to afford it. Even before launching the Goddess Project, she would do free sessions throughout the year and has visited nursing homes for mini-photo sessions with older residents.
During the photoshoots, Wallace-Ewing makes behind-the-scenes videos that she shares online, where she has 132,000 Instagram followers and nearly 114,000 followers and 3.8 million likes on TikTok. They include snippets of her conversations with the women about their lives.
Her posts often resonate with people for a variety of reasons, she said. “People tell me in the comments that they are afraid of becoming an older woman, but this makes them feel less afraid,” she said. “They also make people wistful, sometimes for people who passed away, or gives them excitement for their future.
” A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME SHOOT Many of the photoshoots leave an impression on Wallace-Ewing long after they’re over, perhaps none more than the one she did last summer when Caroline Fix Strauss traveled to Ogunquit from Vermont for a goddess session. Fix Strauss had been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer months earlier and told her family she didn’t have any good photos for her obituary. Soon after, her daughter and granddaughter saw some of the goddess photos and knew Fix Strauss, an artist and rulebreaker, would be into it, said her daughter, Lizzie Strauss.
Caroline Fix Strauss poses during her goddess photoshoot in Ogunquit in 2024. Photo courtesy of Ruby Jean Photography During the photoshoot, Fix Strauss sat in a throne-like wooden chair in front of a library that resembles a stone castle, her husband and family watching from a few feet away. “Never in my life have I had a crown,” she said as Wallace-Ewing prepared to slide one on her.
Fix Strauss’ husband, Roger, was initially hesitant about the experience, but by the end was wearing a crown and posing alongside his wife of 61 years. “Mom was her old self for those couple of hours,” Strauss said. “Mom got to be the center of attention without talking about her cancer.
” A post shared by RUBY JEAN | Maine Goddess Photographer (@rubyjeanphotography) Over the next couple of months, Strauss and her mother would look through a book of her goddess photos whenever they saw each other. “At that point, my mom wasn’t even leaving her bed, so to be able to look back at those pictures and remember that time was really special,” Strauss said. Fix Strauss died on Dec.
26 , one month shy of her 89th birthday. For her obituary, her family chose one of Wallace-Ewing’s photos of her as a magical goddess, a glass orb cradled in her hands and a gentle smile on her face. We believe it’s important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers.
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