About The Seen Self and Its Creator - Eva Mercer

Portrait Photographer. Healer. Witness.

I didn’t come to this work through a business plan.
I came to it through survival.

The Seen Self was born from the ache of invisibility—
from the spaces where I felt like I had to hold it all together,
look okay, move on.

Photography became my way back.
Not to performance, but to presence.

I’m a certified life coach, an intuitive, and a survivor.
But more than anything—I’m someone who knows what it feels like
to need a space to unravel.
To be held.
To be seen without explanation.

That’s what I offer now.

What I Do

I create photo-based healing sessions for people who are carrying something too big for words.
Grief. Transition. Trauma. Stillness. Rage.
The in-between places where language fails but feeling remains.

Through intuitive portraiture, guided movement, and deep listening, I help you reconnect with your body, your image, your truth.

This is photography as process.
As reflection.
As reclamation.

Why It Matters

Because most of us were taught how to pose—but not how to feel.
We were told to smile, to shrink, to be strong.
We forgot how to witness ourselves with softness.

This work isn’t about fixing you.
It’s about making space for you.
It’s about offering the kind of session I once needed—and never found.

Until I created it myself.

10 Things About Me

  1. I didn’t learn this work—I lived it.
    The Seen Self began as something I needed to survive.

  2. I’m a certified life coach, but I don’t believe in fixing people. I believe in holding them.

  3. I speak in images.
    Sometimes it’s the only language that makes sense.

  4. I don’t pose people—I wait for something to shift.
    A breath. A tremble. A truth.

  5. Silence doesn’t scare me.
    I know how loud the quiet can be.

  6. I’ve rebuilt myself more times than I can count.
    That’s why I trust when others do too.

  7. I believe your body remembers everything.
    And I believe it can also be released.

  8. I make space for emotion. Even the loud ones.
    Especially the quiet ones.

  9. Most of my favorite images were taken mid-exhale.

  10. I don't chase beauty. I chase what’s real.
    And when it’s real—it’s always beautiful.

Woman with tattoos sitting on wooden floor, holding a Canon camera while taking a photo or video inside a studio, with curtains and photography equipment in the background.
A woman with long hair bending down inside an elevator, touching the floor with one hand, wearing a sweater, dark pants, and high-heeled boots.

Contact

That thing called a Testimonial

I’m so good at listening and capturing.

But asking for testimonials? Not so much.

Over the years, I’ve had quiet conversations—the kind that stay with you—where people told me that our session changed something. That they finally saw themselves clearly. That the photo held a truth they couldn’t find in the mirror. That I captured something no one else ever had.

And still, I never thought to say, “Hey… would you write that down?”

I know reviews matter. I know it helps to hear from others who’ve been through this.
So if you need me to track a few folks down—I will.
But until then, just know this: the work speaks.
And sometimes, it speaks in silence, tears, or a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

This is that kind of work.