Over the decades—whether we have chosen to or not—we have been inundated with images of skinny women and buff men projecting the idea that their body is what is desirable. In television shows and commercials the women are slim and blond while the men are strong and muscular. Both have professionally whitened teeth and no wrinkles or grey hairs. Anything less than the media’s ideal is unacceptable. Or so we are told.
In 2009 the National Organization for Women started the Love Your Body campaign and has been holding a “love your body” day ever since. NOW’s goal is similar to my own: to cause women to be comfortable with themselves and to love their bodies—no matter what anyone else thinks or says. However, negative body images and low self-esteem aren’t exclusive to women; almost everyone has something about themselves that they don’t love. Conversely, they also have something that they do love. My work is about real people with various body types and various likes and dislikes of their bodies. In doing this I am addressing a common issue that affects a large number of people as well as bringing out the natural beauty in my models and showing them—and viewers—that they are beautiful.
My work is mainly about body image and aims to cause people to feel better about their bodies but as I have continued on with my research it has expanded to include the ideal body and what the media says is such. My work includes photographs, collage, as well as a documentary. I want my work to speak to people and tell them that they are beautiful the way nature created them to be. I want people to feel better about their bodies and hopefully to love—or at the very least accept—them. My work is just a small step in the direction society should be taking towards feeling better about themselves and having a more positive opinion of their bodies.
I know that I am not the first person to work with this theme, nor will I be the last, but maybe if enough people start speaking out about this issue then people will be forced to listen. I want my work to start a discussion and get people working together to change the media’s perception of the ideal body. I want people to love the skin they’re in and if they must change it, to do it in a healthy way like exercising and eating right rather than starving themselves or having surgery. It’s a daunting task that I am taking on but even if I am just a small part in the grand scheme of things, at least I tried.
“It’s not our bodies that need changing. It’s our attitudes.”
-NEDIC
In 2009 the National Organization for Women started the Love Your Body campaign and has been holding a “love your body” day ever since. NOW’s goal is similar to my own: to cause women to be comfortable with themselves and to love their bodies—no matter what anyone else thinks or says. However, negative body images and low self-esteem aren’t exclusive to women; almost everyone has something about themselves that they don’t love. Conversely, they also have something that they do love. My work is about real people with various body types and various likes and dislikes of their bodies. In doing this I am addressing a common issue that affects a large number of people as well as bringing out the natural beauty in my models and showing them—and viewers—that they are beautiful.
My work is mainly about body image and aims to cause people to feel better about their bodies but as I have continued on with my research it has expanded to include the ideal body and what the media says is such. My work includes photographs, collage, as well as a documentary. I want my work to speak to people and tell them that they are beautiful the way nature created them to be. I want people to feel better about their bodies and hopefully to love—or at the very least accept—them. My work is just a small step in the direction society should be taking towards feeling better about themselves and having a more positive opinion of their bodies.
I know that I am not the first person to work with this theme, nor will I be the last, but maybe if enough people start speaking out about this issue then people will be forced to listen. I want my work to start a discussion and get people working together to change the media’s perception of the ideal body. I want people to love the skin they’re in and if they must change it, to do it in a healthy way like exercising and eating right rather than starving themselves or having surgery. It’s a daunting task that I am taking on but even if I am just a small part in the grand scheme of things, at least I tried.
“It’s not our bodies that need changing. It’s our attitudes.”
-NEDIC