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.

Toddler Twins, San Francisco Bay Area

Female Horse Rider, Hyde Park, London

Guatemalan Woman, Chimaltenango

Woman Wearing Hijab

Profile View of the Offering Bearer

Aphrodite, Known as Venus de Milo, Louvre

A Kiss for Baby Brother, Marin County, California

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

Street Photo, Paris

Jacque – Shuttle to Antigua, Guatemala

Little Girl, Guatemala

Reading On the Metro, Paris

Paris Painter

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

Along the Via Sacra, Rome

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

Young Female Loom Artist, Antigua, Guatemala

Penguin interactions at the California Academy of Sciences

Modern Monochrome Stained Glass Madonna. Vatican City

Barrel Racer, Pendleton Round-Up, Pendleton, Oregon

Ishtar: Goddess of Love, War, Fertility, Sex

Tree Hug Near Muir Woods National Park, California

Sunrise, Tikal National Park, Guatemala

Jacque and Scottie

Little Girl, Guatemala

Woman with Flat Basket and Conical Hat. Hanoi, Vietnam

Look at Me and My Mussels!

The Offering Bearer, Musée du Louvre, Paris

Lori Nelson, An American in Paris

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

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

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

San Francisco Metallic

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

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

Paris Sentinels

Vietnamese Nursing Instructors Learning Teaching Methods. Hanoi, Vietnam

Street Photo, Paris

Colorful Textile Seller, Panajachel, Guatemala

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

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

Sunset Walk Along the Seine, Paris

Laughing Friends. Vietnamese Coffee, Hanoi, Vietnam

Classy Ladies in the Rain, Paris

Kristine and Sadie Enjoying the Beach, Stinson Beach, California

A Little Salsa In the Streets of Antigua

Young Ladies, Chimaltenango, Guatemala

Female Sculpture, Boboli Gardens, Florence, Italy

Red, Paris

Grandmother’s Pearls, Marin County, California

Vietnamese Musician. Hanoi, Vietnam

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

Jacque – Ready to Explore Antigua, Guatmala

Amanda, Marin County, California

Female Statue, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris

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

Guatemalan Women, Kateri Tekakwitha Scholarship Recipients (except Jacque)

Fingerpainting

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

Toddler Twins, San Francisco Bay Area

In the home of a Guatemalan woman

Umbrellas at the Eiffel Tower

A Walk Near Muir Woods National Park, California

Guatemalan Women (Except for Jacque)

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