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Laurie Goodman Life Messages™

Laurie Goodman (born on November 10, 1972) is a self-taught, Canadian photographer who focuses on creating a comfortable atmosphere for her subjects in order to capture their natural expressions.

Early Life
Goodman was born in Newmarket, Ontario to Peter and Lynda Goodman. She moved to Kingston, Ontario to study at Queen’s University and graduated with her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education in 1995. She worked for 13 years with the York Region District School Board as a teacher.

Career
Goodman credits her father, Peter Goodman, for inspiring her interest in candid photography, and her three sons for being her practice subjects throughout the years. Goodman’s professional photography career began as a local photographer in Campbellville, Ontario. She entered pieces into local art festivals in Ontario. She won 1st place in numerous festivals, including the Winter Fair in Newmarket, as well as the Milton Fall Fair. Goodman also turned to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Flickr to bring awareness to her company, Laurie Goodman Photography, gathering a following of loyal customers.

Life Messages TM
Goodman has since created a popular photo book called laurie goodman photography's life messages™ book of inspirational canadian women (Life Messages ™). The idea for Life Messages ™ stemmed from her passion for photography and writing, as well as the ability to inspire other women to tell their own stories. In a recent interview with Global News and Susan Hay, Goodman explains, “I had a vision of working with women. I just had this idea to take pictures of women holding their life message.” Armed with just a black piece of paper, a white marker, and a camera, women wrote down their favourite quote or phrase that has inspired them, and Goodman snapped their picture. “A lot of these women don’t love having their picture taken, but they have something to say.”

As Life Messages™ gained popularity, Goodman decided to turn her project into a book. The book would not only feature the pictures of 119 women holding their quotes, including Goodman, but also incorporate their stories behind what led them to their life message. In order to fund the book and accompanying art show, Goodman turned to Kickstarter. Her goal was to raise $15,000, and by July 22, 2014, her 98 supporters had rallied to give $15,635.

laurie goodman photography's life messages™ book of inspirational canadian women launched on October 3, 2014 at the Mohawk Inn and Conference Centre in Campbellville, Ontario. The event highlighted the book as well as some of the women who participated, as they shared their stories and experiences with Life Messages TM. “We were hoping that their messages would help others, but what ended up happening was it became self-affirming for the women to see themselves holding their messages.” Some of the proceeds from the sale of the book went to the Girls Inc. of Halton, which is a non-profit organization aiming to improve girls’ self-esteem, as well as 100% of the proceeds from the art auction.

Since the book’s release, Goodman has been featured in interviews with Global News, Rogers Television, CHCH Morning Live and Hamilton Life. Goodman’s next book project will feature children ages 2-10 and their life messages.