Today marks International Women’s Day! To commemorate, here is a gallery of some of the women I’ve photographed in various parts of the world over the last few years. Most are just going about their days, some are sculptural renditions, and their is one painting of a very special lady, indeed. Whatever they are doing, wherever they are, they sparkle both individually, and as a colorful, beautiful mosaic.

Street Photo, Paris

Guatemalan Women, Kateri Tekakwitha Scholarship Recipients (except Jacque)

An American Woman Reading on Board a Junk in Halong Bay, Vietnam

Sunset Walk Along the Seine, Paris

Woman Wearing Hijab

Jacque and Scottie

The Offering Bearer, Musée du Louvre, Paris

Lynne and Ashley, Mother and Daughter, Marin County, CA

Look at Me and My Mussels!

“I’m Flying!” Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, California

Grandmother’s Pearls, Marin County, California

Little Girl, Guatemala

Skeletons and Lace, Cour d’Honneur, Palais Royal, Paris

Shy. On the Bus to the Aquarium of the Pacific. Long Beach, California

Red, Paris

Paris Sentinels

Vietnamese Musician. Hanoi, Vietnam

Umbrellas at the Eiffel Tower

Profile View of the Offering Bearer

Classy Ladies in the Rain, Paris

Paris Painter

Jacque – Ready to Explore Antigua, Guatmala

Guatemalan Women (Except for Jacque)

Vietnamese Nursing Instructors Learning Teaching Methods. Hanoi, Vietnam

Ishtar: Goddess of Love, War, Fertility, Sex

Tree Hug Near Muir Woods National Park, California

Kristine and Sadie Enjoying the Beach, Stinson Beach, California

Praying Madonna, Picture Over my Bed, The Convent of Suore Elisabetta dell’Olmata, Rome, Italy

Native American Princess, Pendleton Round-Up, Pendleton, Oregon

Guatemalan Woman, Chimaltenango

Little Girl, Guatemala

Jacque – Shuttle to Antigua, Guatemala

Penguin interactions at the California Academy of Sciences

Reading On the Metro, Paris

Toddler Twins, San Francisco Bay Area

Toddler Twins, San Francisco Bay Area

Street Photo, Paris

Skeletons and Lace, Cour d’Honneur, Palais Royal, Paris

Young Female Loom Artist, Antigua, Guatemala

A Kiss for Baby Brother, Marin County, California

Female Sculpture, Boboli Gardens, Florence, Italy

Lori Nelson, An American in Paris

San Francisco Metallic

Concern on a Second Grade Teacher’s Face. Aquarium of the Pacific Field Trip, Long Beach, California

Amanda, Marin County, California

Woman with Flat Basket and Conical Hat. Hanoi, Vietnam

Female Horse Rider, Hyde Park, London

Sunrise, Tikal National Park, Guatemala

Aphrodite, Known as Venus de Milo, Louvre

A Little Salsa In the Streets of Antigua

Modern Monochrome Stained Glass Madonna. Vatican City

Barrel Racer, Pendleton Round-Up, Pendleton, Oregon

Wonder at the Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, California

Female Statue, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris

Laughing Friends. Vietnamese Coffee, Hanoi, Vietnam

Fingerpainting

A Walk Near Muir Woods National Park, California

In the home of a Guatemalan woman

Young Ladies, Chimaltenango, Guatemala

Colorful Textile Seller, Panajachel, Guatemala

“That Seal is So Big!” Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, California

Along the Via Sacra, Rome

Golden Curls and a Smile. Matt Davis Trail, Marin County, California

Beautiful Vietnamese Women (and a Couple of American Ones, Too!) Hanoi, Vietnam

Taken individually, each is cause for celebration in her own right. When considered as symbolic of all of us women, the collage forms a pleasing and consistent whole.

For International Women’s Day 2016, Google travelled around the world and asked women to complete the phrase #OneDayIWill. Here are some great responses from London:

#OneDayIWill visit the North and the South Poles and every country in between!

#OneDayIWill fly!!! This latter dream I posted on Twitter and Google responded! Here’s the Twitter conversation:

@renate_flynn Fly on! #OneDayIWill pic.twitter.com/BOVujuBTdC

— Google (@google) March 9, 2016

“I’m Flying!” Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, California