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 – Shuttle to Antigua, Guatemala

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

Modern Monochrome Stained Glass Madonna. Vatican City

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

Female Horse Rider, Hyde Park, London

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

Paris Painter

A Kiss for Baby Brother, Marin County, California

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

Vietnamese Nursing Instructors Learning Teaching Methods. Hanoi, Vietnam

Tree Hug Near Muir Woods National Park, California

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

Toddler Twins, San Francisco Bay Area

Young Ladies, Chimaltenango, Guatemala

Female Statue, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris

Aphrodite, Known as Venus de Milo, Louvre

A Little Salsa In the Streets of Antigua

Profile View of the Offering Bearer

Guatemalan Women, Kateri Tekakwitha Scholarship Recipients (except Jacque)

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

Street Photo, Paris

Laughing Friends. Vietnamese Coffee, Hanoi, Vietnam

Reading On the Metro, Paris

Barrel Racer, Pendleton Round-Up, Pendleton, Oregon

Along the Via Sacra, Rome

Toddler Twins, San Francisco Bay Area

Guatemalan Women (Except for Jacque)

Penguin interactions at the California Academy of Sciences

Kristine and Sadie Enjoying the Beach, Stinson Beach, California

Young Female Loom Artist, Antigua, Guatemala

Red, Paris

Lori Nelson, An American in Paris

The Offering Bearer, Musée du Louvre, Paris

Guatemalan Woman, Chimaltenango

Classy Ladies in the Rain, Paris

Little Girl, Guatemala

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

Umbrellas at the Eiffel Tower

Woman Wearing Hijab

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

San Francisco Metallic

Jacque and Scottie

Sunrise, Tikal National Park, Guatemala

Street Photo, Paris

Woman with Flat Basket and Conical Hat. Hanoi, Vietnam

Grandmother’s Pearls, Marin County, California

Paris Sentinels

In the home of a Guatemalan woman

Look at Me and My Mussels!

Jacque – Ready to Explore Antigua, Guatmala

A Walk Near Muir Woods National Park, California

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

Sunset Walk Along the Seine, Paris

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

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

Little Girl, Guatemala

Ishtar: Goddess of Love, War, Fertility, Sex

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

Amanda, Marin County, California

Vietnamese Musician. Hanoi, Vietnam

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

Colorful Textile Seller, Panajachel, Guatemala

Fingerpainting

Female Sculpture, Boboli Gardens, Florence, Italy

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