Sophomore Mirian Araujo began her Instagram campaign “Beauty is Difference” to inspire girls in the Danbury community to be proud of who they are.

Her friend encouraged her to register for a program where she would have to create a project that incorporated photography. She wanted to actually compose an idea that would have a purpose and longevity because it meant something to someone.

After she proposed her objective to her followers this campaign came to life by the endless amounts of request to be photographed. Araujo was determined to spread an important message, which unfortunately did not come easily to her initially.

Araujo shared how she too struggled with body image. She explained how during sixth grade she became anorexic and bulimic. She discloses: “I just remember my personal struggle was keeping up with weight because I always had very thin, petite friends. And I was never like that, I was always very — my Brazilian curves — and to me, I was always just like, ‘Oh, that’s ugly, not everyone looks like that.’ ”

She overcame this moment in her life by immersing herself in her culture as a young Brazilian girl. “ I am different,” she says, “ and I think that’s so awesome. I started to realize that my friends were envious of me because I was so different from them. I [needed] to stop seeing different as strange, but see different as special, which is what we all are.”

Araujo chose to spread a necessary message which in turn became a coping mechanism. Her rules for this campaign were to make sure that girls sincerely embrace who they are by wearing and keeping their face in a way that they feel represents them and also keep their hair natural for the photo.

One of Araujo’s participants, junior Monique DeLima says, “Supporting this campaign encouraged me to let go of those insecurities that had in my past. This campaign was like the cherry on top for my journey to confidence and positives vibes all around.”

She continues on describing with a captivating passion on how she picked up on photography as she initiated the campaign. At first, she did not know how she was going to accomplish this goal, but she was driven to make this genuine in existence. She expresses how she knew nothing about a camera. The motivation to have girls realize how beautiful they are was enough to encourage her to immediately take pictures hoping for the best outcome.

Araujo soon discovered the true power of photography. “What I love is how different everything looks from the lens. I love that it takes different angles to make different people feel confident.

“There is no spectrum of beauty,” she continues.

Araujo said she wanted to produce photos that would focus on how even though each photo is different they all measure up to a level of elegance because it is in black and white.

“There’s nothing alike within all of us but all of the pictures look just as beautiful.” Araujo finds beauty in everything that is not common; therefore, she says “beauty is difference.”