Body Positivity And Gender Equality Project

I have an ongoing project focusing on Body Positivity and Gender Equality and I am looking for models to shoot. This is a tf shoot, you will get both digital and printed photos from this shoot and I will supply tea, coffee, hot chocolate, biscuits and if you’re really lucky cake. Overall project details are below along with the details of the first section I want to be shooting.

There are two Japanese philosophies that in today world fit nicely with everything this overall project aims to address,

Wabi-sabi, in Japanese aesthetics is a view centred on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. An aesthetic that is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" in nature, with principles that include asymmetry, roughness, simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy, and the appreciation of both natural objects and the forces of nature.

Kintsugi, The beauty of imperfections. A Japanese art of repairing an object with precious metals that treats the breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.

I refer to this not because I think that we are all imperfect or broken and that we need to be fixed or repaired in order to be ‘perfect’ but more because we live in a time of media and filters that are built around how we should strive to fit into the commercial definition of beauty and perfection. Moreover, that commercial definition of beauty and perfection extends out to an enforced divide between genders forcing the division between genders of what is socially acceptable in terms of beauty but also in terms of actions and decency, which, even in this day and age is unbalanced and unequal.

So, the mission statement of this project is as follows

“A photographic narrative of the person to break down the gender divides and stereotypes enforced by society and commercial media showcasing the beauty and uniqueness of the individual, their personality, and their body. In addition to create a photographic monograph to act as an archive of who and how we are free from filter and manipulation, as well as a reference for future generations”

As a project this is a large scale all aspect project which will follow the same framework through each of the sub-projects. To make this project manageable different areas of interest will be broken down into smaller demographic subject over the larger whole. There will be two different approaches to the photography to maximise the flexibility of the project as follows.

• Studio based portraits the styling of the image will be along a more formal and classical approach, you will be asked to either sit on a stool or stand on a defined mark where you are free to pose how you wish, with no or minimal posing direction.
• Location based portraits, the styling of the image will be more along the lines of a cinematic and vibrant portrait where you will be asked to pose how you choose within a defined space with no or minimal posing direction.

With displaying the body of work for this project, the primary method of display will be in physical print form, including published book or zine interspersed with traditional prints, alongside this a set of digitally viewable work will be made available on paywall platform, such as Patreon, the purpose of the paywall in displaying the work is partly to make the experience a more defined and intentional viewing experience and to help fund the project going forward. There is currently no plan to distribute this project through social media channels with the exception to promote the main distribution channels and awareness of the project.

Without A Gender

We live in a world that is ceasing to be binary in nature, however we still define ourselves and each other along the defined gender types and the stereotypes that goes with it. The basis of this project is the same through and through, to remove the deciding elements of gender and to represent ourselves as individual human beings. We dress the same, and For those participants with hair long enough to be tied back the ask would be that hair is left natural and behind the shoulders, without being tied back or tied up. There are one or two key differences between the location based portraits and studio based portraits as outlined below;

Part 1: The first part of this project is the fully clothed part, designed to appease the Social Media deities and unaccepting grandparents. Taking on the challenge of questioning how much of the clothes we wear and fashion we are sold defines who we are perceived to be and how we are interpreted by others. For this project element that includes Jeans (preferably blue but open to negotiation and discussion on an individual basis) and a white vest, and that is it, so for those of you that identify as female, or just those of you that feel the need for additional support, sorry, but no bras.

Part 2: The second part of this project goes a little further towards knocking down the gender divide, with a time to tackle the nipple and the oddly defined notion that the non-functional male nipple is acceptable in society, largely ignored and undesired by the masses as opposed to the female nipple, shunned by society and deemed offensive to the masses for being functional and necessary, while at the same time being sexualised and objectified as a tool of sex and greed. This part of the project confronts the nipple head on, to include the nipple, both male and female in a non-sexual and no objectification medium where its presence in the body of work eventually saturates to the point of being a non-consequential entity.

Part 3: The third area of focus for this project is to ‘interview’ each sitter in an open a frank discussion about their bodies, their experience and thoughts regarding gender inequality and the free the nipple movement as well as to whether gender freedom should be considered the norm to form a narrative to the project works.

Hair, for those of you lucky people who have hair on your heads there is a simple ask where your hair is long enough to either touch or exceed your shoulders the ask is the hair is left natural and untied, and worn behind the shoulders.

For anyone who wishes to take part in the project that wants or needs to remain anonymous this will be achieved through one of four masks currently being made to fit with the aesthetic of the project.

Please message me if you are interested in taking part.

Thanks,