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

Young Ladies, Chimaltenango, Guatemala

Paris Painter

Umbrellas at the Eiffel Tower

Guatemalan Woman, Chimaltenango

Young Female Loom Artist, Antigua, Guatemala

Fingerpainting

Toddler Twins, San Francisco Bay Area

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

Female Horse Rider, Hyde Park, London

Modern Monochrome Stained Glass Madonna. Vatican City

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

Little Girl, Guatemala

Vietnamese Musician. Hanoi, Vietnam

Laughing Friends. Vietnamese Coffee, Hanoi, Vietnam

Grandmother’s Pearls, Marin County, California

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

Woman Wearing Hijab

Reading On the Metro, Paris

Penguin interactions at the California Academy of Sciences

Along the Via Sacra, Rome

Vietnamese Nursing Instructors Learning Teaching Methods. Hanoi, Vietnam

Kristine and Sadie Enjoying the Beach, Stinson Beach, California

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

Ishtar: Goddess of Love, War, Fertility, Sex

Guatemalan Women (Except for Jacque)

Tree Hug Near Muir Woods National Park, California

Jacque – Ready to Explore Antigua, Guatmala

Female Sculpture, Boboli Gardens, Florence, Italy

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

Aphrodite, Known as Venus de Milo, Louvre

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

Profile View of the Offering Bearer

Street Photo, Paris

San Francisco Metallic

A Kiss for Baby Brother, Marin County, California

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

Jacque – Shuttle to Antigua, Guatemala

Street Photo, Paris

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

A Little Salsa In the Streets of Antigua

In the home of a Guatemalan woman

Barrel Racer, Pendleton Round-Up, Pendleton, Oregon

Little Girl, Guatemala

Paris Sentinels

Colorful Textile Seller, Panajachel, Guatemala

Female Statue, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris

Look at Me and My Mussels!

The Offering Bearer, Musée du Louvre, Paris

Sunrise, Tikal National Park, Guatemala

Classy Ladies in the Rain, Paris

Red, Paris

Amanda, Marin County, California

Jacque and Scottie

Sunset Walk Along the Seine, Paris

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

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

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

Lori Nelson, An American in Paris

Woman with Flat Basket and Conical Hat. Hanoi, Vietnam

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

A Walk Near Muir Woods National Park, California

Guatemalan Women, Kateri Tekakwitha Scholarship Recipients (except Jacque)

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

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