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.

In the home of a Guatemalan woman

Jacque – Ready to Explore Antigua, Guatmala

Grandmother’s Pearls, Marin County, California

Guatemalan Women (Except for Jacque)

Penguin interactions at the California Academy of Sciences

Jacque and Scottie

A Kiss for Baby Brother, Marin County, California

Reading On the Metro, Paris

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

Look at Me and My Mussels!

Lori Nelson, An American in Paris

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

Guatemalan Woman, Chimaltenango

Ishtar: Goddess of Love, War, Fertility, Sex

Woman Wearing Hijab

Profile View of the Offering Bearer

Kristine and Sadie Enjoying the Beach, Stinson Beach, California

Little Girl, Guatemala

Vietnamese Nursing Instructors Learning Teaching Methods. Hanoi, Vietnam

Woman with Flat Basket and Conical Hat. Hanoi, Vietnam

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

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

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

Guatemalan Women, Kateri Tekakwitha Scholarship Recipients (except Jacque)

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

Little Girl, Guatemala

Female Horse Rider, Hyde Park, London

A Little Salsa In the Streets of Antigua

Paris Painter

Tree Hug Near Muir Woods National Park, California

Toddler Twins, San Francisco Bay Area

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

Umbrellas at the Eiffel Tower

Sunrise, Tikal National Park, Guatemala

Fingerpainting

San Francisco Metallic

Along the Via Sacra, Rome

Female Statue, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris

Young Ladies, Chimaltenango, Guatemala

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

Laughing Friends. Vietnamese Coffee, Hanoi, Vietnam

Female Sculpture, Boboli Gardens, Florence, Italy

Toddler Twins, San Francisco Bay Area

A Walk Near Muir Woods National Park, California

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

Barrel Racer, Pendleton Round-Up, Pendleton, Oregon

Classy Ladies in the Rain, Paris

Street Photo, Paris

Colorful Textile Seller, Panajachel, Guatemala

Vietnamese Musician. Hanoi, Vietnam

Street Photo, Paris

Aphrodite, Known as Venus de Milo, Louvre

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

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

Paris Sentinels

Red, Paris

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

Amanda, Marin County, California

Young Female Loom Artist, Antigua, Guatemala

Sunset Walk Along the Seine, Paris

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

Jacque – Shuttle to Antigua, Guatemala

The Offering Bearer, Musée du Louvre, Paris

Modern Monochrome Stained Glass Madonna. Vatican City

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