Gena Wueste | 40 Over 40 Portrait Series | Newport Beach Portrait Photographer

There’s a scene at the end of The Breakfast Club that has stuck with me for decades. Five teenagers, all stuck in detention for a Saturday, are forced to write an essay about who they think they are.

What they realize is that the labels adults use to describe them are easy, convenient, and mostly wrong.

A brain.
An athlete.
A princess.
A criminal.
A basket case.

They’re human.

Gena Wueste photographed for the 40 Over 40 portrait series

As a portrait photographer in Newport Beach, I think about that scene a lot when I photograph women, especially women over forty.

Somewhere along the way, we get flattened into roles.

Mom. Partner. Caregiver.

The strong one. The responsible one. The one who holds it all together.

Even when we do get professionally photographed, it’s almost always in service of one of those roles. Family photos. Holiday cards. Branding images. Website headshots.

The pictures are about what we do, who we’re with, or what we’re responsible for.

Most of the time, the photos we take are in service of one of those roles.

They’re rarely about who we are outside the roles we carry as women.

Gena Wueste during her 40 Over 40 portrait session

That realization is the heart of my 40 Over 40 project.

Gena Wueste | 40 Over 40 Portrait Series

As a Newport Beach portrait photographer, this series has become one of the most meaningful parts of my work. It isn’t about presenting yourself for a role. It isn’t about pretending age doesn’t exist. It’s about stepping out of the role you live in every day and being seen as a whole person, in this moment of your life, exactly as you are.

Gena is a perfect example of why this matters.

Gena Wueste celebrating her strength during her 40 Over 40 portrait session

I’ve known Gena a long time. Years before this 40 Over 40 shoot, I photographed her and her boys for their annual family sessions. Back then it was all lifestyle shooting. Golden beach light. Candid moments at the park. That very Southern California look.

Over the years I watched her life shift and her boys grow up. Somewhere along the way she got serious about her own physical fitness. What started as a personal commitment eventually turned into her own personal training business. It was one of those quiet transformations you do not forget.

Gena Wueste | 40 Over 40 Portrait Series

If you spend even five minutes around Gena, you understand why that path fits her so well. She has one of those smiles that shows up before she does, and she laughs easily. She is direct and says what she means. At the same time she is deeply kind and actually listens when people talk.

Today she owns a gym in Corona del Mar and is in the process of building a fitness app for women navigating hormonal changes in midlife. Helping women feel stronger in their bodies has become a big part of her work, which makes perfect sense if you know her.

Gena Wueste in the space where she trains and coaches women navigating fitness and midlife strength

When I asked her why she wanted to do the 40 Over 40 project, she said this:

“I wanted to do the 40/40 to showcase that yes, we age, but it doesn’t mean we diminish. We are vibrant, passion filled, and contribute to the world in so many ways, even more so than when we were young sometimes.”

That pretty much says it better than I ever could.

What made this shoot especially meaningful to me is that Gena was trusting me in a completely different way. Before this, I had only photographed her outdoors or at the gym, places that feel familiar and comfortable.

This time she stepped into my Costa Mesa portrait studio.

Being photographed with your family at the beach or in your own space is one thing. Standing in front of studio lights, in a quiet room with nowhere to hide from yourself, is another.

That kind of portrait asks for a different kind of honesty, and it requires trust. Gena stepped into that fully, and that’s never something I take lightly.

We split her shoot into three parts.

Gena Wueste during the light, minimalist portion of her 40 Over 40 portrait session

First, we did a light, bright studio set with white backgrounds and her everyday but elevated clothes. At one point I asked her what her favorite song was. She didn’t hesitate. “Baby’s Got Back.” My makeup artist Kelsey and I locked eyes, laughed, and hit play.

Gena started dancing and laughing and being exactly who she is. Some of my favorite moments from the entire shoot came from that part of the session, and it is still something Kelsey and I talk about.

Then we shifted gears into her fine art studio portraits with darker backgrounds, moodier light, and a simple silk dress. This is the part of a session where everything slows down. I coach my clients to stop trying to be “on” and start settling into themselves.

Gena Wueste during the fine art portion of her 40 Over 40 portrait session

Gena was centered and completely present in that part of her shoot, and you can see it in the images. These are the kinds of photographs most women over forty never imagine having taken of themselves. They feel like her in that moment when everything she has lived finally shows up in her face and presence.

For me, that is the heartbeat of the entire 40 Over 40 project.

When I asked her how it felt, she told me, “With you behind the camera, it definitely felt easier and freer. I actually felt like I was coming into my own.”

After that, we packed up and went to her gym in Corona del Mar to finish the session there. The studio portraits were still the core of her 40 Over 40 shoot. That part was just for her.

Gena Wueste in her element, building strength for herself and the women she coaches

Adding the gym gave her something else too. Images in the space where she actually works and spends so much of her time. Together, the full set of photographs feels both personal and rooted in her real life.

When I asked her what she would say to someone who’s on the fence about doing something like this, she said, “If you are on the fence about doing a photo shoot, just don’t think, jump. Do it. Be brave for yourself and be brave for the legacy that you’re going to leave through the personality in the photographs that Alex captures.”

When I look at Gena’s images, I’m reminded why I never walked away from photography. I’ve known her a long time. I know who she is. And she trusted me enough to let me document her in a way that’s honest and vulnerable in my own creative space, without knowing exactly how it would turn out.

That kind of trust stays with me.

Gena Wueste photographed in the studio as part of the 40 Over 40 portrait series, celebrating women over forty who choose to document this chapter of their lives with honesty and presence.

These photos aren’t about pretending to be younger or reinventing yourself. They’re about putting a marker down and saying, this is my life, this is what I’ve lived, this is who I am right now.

I want Gena to enjoy these images now. To see herself reflected back in them and feel the weight of everything she’s accomplished.

And yes, one day they'll mean something to the people who love her too.

The reason is now. For her.

If you’re reading this and thinking about doing something like this for yourself, that’s not an accident.

This project is limited. I’m photographing 40 women over the age of 40, and when those 40 are done, the project is finished and I’ll move on to something else. It isn’t a forever offering.

If this speaks to you and you’re curious about participating in the 40 Over 40 portrait series, I’d love to hear from you. You can reach out through my contact page to start the conversation.

Gena Wueste with her dog at the end of her 40 Over 40 portrait session.

Alex Abercrombie is a portrait photographer based in Costa Mesa serving Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, and Orange County.