I believe we all have an innate desire for beauty. But beauty is more than just visual attractiveness—it is intellectual and spiritual as well.

Intellectual beauty goes beyond what is seen at the surface to the thoughts and ideas behind the surface. Spiritual beauty is beauty felt with the heart and the soul. It is closely connected with love, and gives us hope, gratification, and strengthened faith. When we are able to appreciate spiritual beauty, life becomes beautiful. The simplest moment becomes a treasure, and diligently doing good is worth the effort.

Each level of beauty is intertwined, and while spiritual beauty may be the pinnacle, physical and intellectual beauties are necessary for completeness.

I use photography to create and fill my life with beauty. I love seeing beautiful pictures and knowing that I was the one who brought them into existence. Even more than that, I love knowing that the subject I photographed may have looked mundane before, but now that it has been reduced to two dimensions, it has become something special. As the creator, I consider myself successful when I have created something more beautiful than what existed before.

Culinary photography helps fulfill my desire for physical and intellectual beauty. Whatever I enjoy most in life, I also enjoy photographing most. I love to cook, and I love to make what I cook look as appetizing as possible. Likewise, I love photographing food and making it good. A photo of delicious-looking food is almost more satisfying than eating the delicious food!

I feel all aspects of beauty most in children. Very little is as beautiful as a child—from their tiny noses to their unstable movements to their unquenchable curiosity. Through photography, I am able to capture part of this beauty. At the very least, I get the opportunity to document part of the growth and development of the child.

My favorite way to photograph is to follow children around as they play—letting them do what they enjoy, and not forcing them into stressful or obnoxious situations. This way they are happy, energetic, and comfortable.

My philosophy with photographing children is this: let them be themselves. If this requires casual clothes and dirty faces, so be it. Children are frequently little terrors, and yet we still adore them. Even when they draw all over the couches with marker or ask for Hop on Pop read to them for the hundredth time, we still love them. So why try to make photographs that do not reveal the pure and beautiful aspects of their childhood?

Although photography fulfills a large part of my desire for beauty, it would not be possible without my husband, my family, and my faith. Bret encourages me like no one else can, gives me confidence, gives me hope. I am so blessed to have him in my life. Similarly, the rest of my family strengthens me, but most importantly, I know that my life and happiness is possible because of a Higher Being. As I continue in photography, the hand of God is constantly revealed. When I look at all that surrounds me, the creative power of God (and even His very existence) becomes irrefutable.

Tearsa Monet currently resides in North-Central Utah with her husband and daughter. She received her undergraduate degree in photography at Brigham Young University. She specializes in children, culinary, and fine art photography.