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.

Jacque – Ready to Explore Antigua, Guatmala

Look at Me and My Mussels!

Female Sculpture, Boboli Gardens, Florence, Italy

Young Ladies, Chimaltenango, Guatemala

Profile View of the Offering Bearer

Guatemalan Woman, Chimaltenango

Toddler Twins, San Francisco Bay Area

Guatemalan Women, Kateri Tekakwitha Scholarship Recipients (except Jacque)

Paris Sentinels

Young Female Loom Artist, Antigua, Guatemala

Street Photo, Paris

Little Girl, Guatemala

Paris Painter

San Francisco Metallic

Classy Ladies in the Rain, Paris

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

Kristine and Sadie Enjoying the Beach, Stinson Beach, California

Penguin interactions at the California Academy of Sciences

Jacque and Scottie

Woman Wearing Hijab

Sunset Walk Along the Seine, Paris

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

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

Vietnamese Musician. Hanoi, Vietnam

Female Statue, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris

Grandmother’s Pearls, Marin County, California

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

Modern Monochrome Stained Glass Madonna. Vatican City

Laughing Friends. Vietnamese Coffee, Hanoi, Vietnam

Toddler Twins, San Francisco Bay Area

Colorful Textile Seller, Panajachel, Guatemala

Reading On the Metro, Paris

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

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

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

Little Girl, Guatemala

Female Horse Rider, Hyde Park, London

Red, Paris

Woman with Flat Basket and Conical Hat. Hanoi, Vietnam

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

Fingerpainting

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

Guatemalan Women (Except for Jacque)

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

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

Umbrellas at the Eiffel Tower

Amanda, Marin County, California

Aphrodite, Known as Venus de Milo, Louvre

Street Photo, Paris

Along the Via Sacra, Rome

Sunrise, Tikal National Park, Guatemala

Barrel Racer, Pendleton Round-Up, Pendleton, Oregon

In the home of a Guatemalan woman

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

A Kiss for Baby Brother, Marin County, California

Lori Nelson, An American in Paris

A Walk Near Muir Woods National Park, California

Vietnamese Nursing Instructors Learning Teaching Methods. Hanoi, Vietnam

Ishtar: Goddess of Love, War, Fertility, Sex

Tree Hug Near Muir Woods National Park, California

A Little Salsa In the Streets of Antigua

The Offering Bearer, Musée du Louvre, Paris

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

Jacque – Shuttle to Antigua, Guatemala

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