Why women over 40 are the most powerful — and most overlooked — women in the room.
I want to tell you about a moment that happens in my studio.
A woman walks in. She’s somewhere in her 40s, 50s, maybe her 60s. She’s dressed beautifully, she’s warm and funny, and within about thirty seconds of sitting down she says some version of the same thing I’ve heard hundreds of times:
“I’m not really a photo person.”
And then we spend a few hours together. Hair. Makeup. A conversation. A camera. And somewhere in the middle of it all, something shifts.
She stops holding her breath. She laughs — really laughs. She stands up straighter without being asked to. And when she finally sees the images, more often than not, she goes very quiet.
Not because she doesn’t like them.
Because she does. And she didn’t expect to.
The woman nobody talks about
There’s a particular woman who doesn’t get nearly enough airtime in our culture.
She’s the one who built the business from scratch, or held a career together while raising children, or reinvented herself after a marriage ended or a diagnosis arrived or a chapter closed that she didn’t choose to close. She’s the one who knows things now that she couldn’t have known at 25 — about herself, about people, about what actually matters.
She is, in almost every measurable way, the most capable and interesting version of herself she has ever been.
And she is almost entirely invisible in mainstream media, advertising, and culture.
We are obsessed with youth. With before-and-after. With the idea that a woman’s most valuable years are somehow behind her the moment she turns 40. It’s nonsense — and I think most of us know it’s nonsense — but the message is everywhere, and it lands whether we want it to or not.
What happens when someone finally pays attention
I started the 40 Over Forty Project because I kept photographing these extraordinary women — founders, leaders, mothers, survivors, creatives — and thinking: more people need to see this.
Not the polished LinkedIn version. Not the exhausted Tuesday morning version. But the real version — the one that comes out when someone actually makes space for her, looks at her properly, and says you are worth this.
What I’ve learned after three editions is that the transformation isn’t really about the photographs.
It’s about what happens when a woman is given permission — even just for one day — to be the most important person in the room.
The hair and makeup. The unhurried morning. The champagne and the conversation. The guided portrait session where nobody needs anything from her except her presence. It sounds simple. The impact is anything but.
Caroline, 62, said it better than I ever could:
“I was really not willing to be photographed in any way, shape or form. I finally decided, why not. It was the best time I have ever had. It built up my self esteem so much. Forever grateful.”
This year’s edition
The 2026 edition of the 40 Over Forty Project will be celebrated at an exclusive Gala Exhibition on the Gold Coast on Saturday 6th June — a proper evening where the 40 women featured in the commemorative magazine are honoured, their portraits displayed, and over 120 women gather to connect and celebrate together.
Women from across the Gold Coast, Northern NSW, and Brisbane. Business owners, executives, community leaders, and the people who love and support them — all in one room, on one night.
A handful of local businesses have already recognised what it means to be associated with this movement and have quietly come on board as partners. It’s the kind of alignment that doesn’t come along often — where supporting something genuinely meaningful also happens to make very good business sense.
If you know a woman who deserves this — or if you are that woman — I’d love you to find out more.
Because she built the business. She raised the family. She held it all together.
Now it’s her turn.
Vanessa Van Straaten is a Gold Coast photographer and the founder of the 40 Over Forty Project, now in its 3rd Edition across Queensland and Northern NSW. Find out more at vvsportrait.com/40-over-forty-project